SKPR's Log
by The Deimos Anomaly
Summary: Follow the adventures of the intrepid team SKPR, an elite foursome who move to Beacon for the upcoming Vytal Festival, while also tracking down a devious villain who has allied with the White Fang. Featuring humanized Penguins, maybe a few other supporting characters too, who knows. Takes place during Volume 2, with a few alterations.
1. Arrival

**A/N: Hello, and welcome to my first fic! I hope you enjoy it. Feel free to leave comments and constructive criticism, because it is most appreciated! Characters from Penguins of Madagascar and RWBY are not mine, and belong to their respective owners.  
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A lone pair of spyglasses peeked through a bush in the courtyard of Beacon Academy. Slowly it panned from left to right, and then vice-versa. After a few seconds, it vanished back into the leaves. A hand rose upward and signaled a quick flick of the wrist. Immediately, three teenage boys rolled forward and leaped down the courtyard to hide behind the next bush, followed by a fourth. The same pattern occurred once more. A survey with binoculars, then a hurried dive to the next bush. Slowly but surely they drew nearer the main staircase of the school.

One bush left, and the four paused. The middle-sized boy who held the binoculars whispered to his brothers.

"Kowalski, analysis."

The tall boy with glasses known as Kowalski pulled out a campus map from his lab coat and glanced over the notes written on it.

"Only 32 meters from the objective, Skipper." Kowalski then pulled out a gold pocket watch. "And according to my calculations, if we don't get in now we will be marked for a tardy."

With a swift motion he stuffed them back into his coat as Skipper began reassessing their approach.

The smallest one, Private, spoke up. "Skipper, can't we just stroll inside?"

Skipper took his eyes off his binoculars and turned to his little brother. "Negative, Private. We're still in an insecure position inside foreign territory! The enemy could be watching us from any vantage points out here, like that tree, or that pillar, or in those buildings!"

The young boy sighed. "Sorry, Skipper."

"Alright boys, we need to move this show." Skipper began pointing to his brothers as he gave out orders. "Private, you're on point. Recon ahead and find us the fast way in. Rico, you'll clear the path on Private's mark. We don't move until the road's been cleared. The clock's tickin' boys. Let's roll!"

Private leaped out of the bush and ran up the stairs as fast as he could. Once at the top, he immediately splayed himself against the left wall and sneaked sideways as the other students passed, looking at him oddly. Private ignored their glances as he peeked around the corner. Their objective was in sight: Room 30, Grimm Studies, just down the hall. The doors were open and students were clogging the doorway.

Private rushed back to the top of the stairs and waved. Then it was Rico's turn. The rowdy, scarred punk climbed up the stairs to Private, his satchel strapped on and ready. He peeked around the doorway and signaled for a "Go!" on his earpiece. Kowalski and Skipper followed tout suite, entering the building just as Rico pulled out a smoke bomb from his bag and rolled it down the hallway.

"Fire in the hole!", Skipper whispered.

A small blast, like a firecracker, echoed into the halls and students began screaming. The four boys ran into the smoke cover, emerging into the lecture room and leaping for four empty seats midway down.

"Mission accomplished, boys!", Skipper proclaimed. Kowalski, in turn, pulled out his pocket watch again. "And exactly 8.65 seconds to spare!", the scientist added.

The brothers celebrated with their classic rapid-fire high fives, finishing just as Professor Port entered the room from the bottom-left door. With their notebooks readied on the table, team SKPR began their first day of class at Beacon.

Across the lecture room, team RWBY watched the commotion caused by the four brothers. Weiss just looked at them with disdain, complaining to her teammates. "I don't know what academy those ruffians are from, but I pity their classmates."

Yang spoke up. "Oh I don't know, they seem fun. Especially if they're going to compete in the Vytal Tournament."

"They just smoke-bombed the hallway just to find some seats," said Blake, not looking up from her notebook. "They look like they'd bring more trouble than they're worth."

An hour and a half passed by as Port continued with his anecdote of tackling Ursai with a twig. Skipper was taking notes, Kowalski was wrapped up in his mathematical calculations, Rico was just drawing battle scenes in his notebook, and Private was barely trying to stay awake. Then the bell rang, waking the small boy up from his drowsiness.

Closing his notebook, Skipper stood up from his chair. "Alright. That was a good first class. Private, I told you to lay off the midnight candy, we can't have you getting these morning burnouts when we're not on our home turf."

"Aye-aye, Skipper." Private yawned.

"Let's grab some grub, boys. I hear Vale has quality seafood. Operation: Lunchtime is go!"

Team SKPR commandoed their way out of the lecture room, running from corner to corner, cover to cover, until they breached through the door of the cafeteria with a team stance that got several students chuckling.

As several students walked around the team's human blockade, Rico tossed Kowalski the binoculars as Skipper barked out him an order. "Kowalski, find us an open spot."

Kowalski scanned the room before pointing a finger out. "Thirty-five degrees that way, sir."

"Target locked." Skipper turned to Private. "Private, you're grabbing the food. We'll secure the table. Formation Delta Zulu, boys. Go, go, go!"

The four boys leaped from their spot in front of the door. Skipper, Kowalski and Rico bounced off tables and pillars towards their table. Simultaneously, Rico threw out several objects from his satchel and passed them to his airborne teammates, who tossed them towards their table. As dozens of students watched, Skipper swung onto one of the flagpoles for a midair flip, then landed on the seat with his brothers and a table set up for a game of Remnant.

"Nice throw Kowalski, not a single piece out of place. Up high, boys!".

As the three brothers high-fived, Ruby and Yang got up from their table three feet away and greeted them. "Nice moves back there. I'm Yang, and this is my little sister Ruby. Welcome to Beacon!"

Ruby perked up and pointed at Weiss and Blake still sitting at their table. "Oh yeah, and over there are our teammates, Weiss and Blake." The two aforementioned girls just glanced.

Ruby then asked them. "Don't you guys ever just walk to places instead of jumping around?"

The three brothers stood up as Skipper spoke, his bravado booming through his voice and guiding his eccentric motions. "For your information little miss red, our techniques are part of a constant training regimen, the exact details of which are a classified secret, even to fellow huntresses. We gotta be in tiptop shape, be prepared for anything. Name's Skipper, and this is my elite contingent."

The boy moved to Kowalski and wrapped his arm on the taller boy's shoulder. "This is Kowalski, he's the brains of our outfit."

Kowalski coughed, stammered and started fixing up his glasses. "Well I don't want to brag but I am quite the intellectual."

The two sisters just smirked to each other, seeing through the boy's struggling attempt at looking good in front of them. "He reminds me of Jaune", Ruby whispered to Yang.

"Yeah but he can actually pull a wall jump." Her sister replied.

"This here's Rico, our weapons specialist and a bonafide psychopath." The wild-eyed boy nodded and gave out a guttural "Hello!", causing the girls to look at Skipper. "He's got a speech impediment sure, but you won't find a bigger bag of loyalty than him."

It was at this time Private approached their table, his tray filled with a large plate of fish and chips. With his sweet posh accent he greeted the girls. "Hello there!"

"And that's Private. He's our uh-" Skipper drew out that "uhh", trying to think of something. "Our candy-holder." Skipper nudged at his little brother and whispered to him. "Private, do that funny thing I always like."

Suddenly, Private put down his tray and saluted at the girls, sticking his tongue out and crossed his blue eyes, looking quite goofy and yet irresistibly adorable. Skipper chuckled, and Ruby and Yang squeed at the sight of it and started squeezing the boy's cheeks and mushing over him.

"Awww he's soo cute!" Ruby cried out.

Meanwhile, Kowalski just scoffed. "How come Private always gets the girls?" Rico just patted his brother's shoulder.

"How old are you Private? You look so young." Yang asked.

Through the stretched, red cheeks, and the boy replied. "I'm 16, actually."

Ruby let go of Private and looked back to Skipper, her fingers pointing to the board game on the table. "Hey can we play?"

Skipper cocked his head. "You've got some moxie to challenge a couple of professionals like us to this game, little lady. I like moxie."

"I call dibs on the next match!" yelled Yang.

The six sat down around the board game, eager to watch a two-player match between Skipper and Ruby. Rico started stuffing his mouth with fish and chips in excitement.

"Go get 'em, Skipper!" cheered Private.

Meanwhile, Blake and Weiss looked at their teammates from their table. Weiss mused to herself. "He is pretty cute."

Blake replied. "I still think they'll bring trouble."

On the table in front of the two girls, team JNPR watched team SKPR and the RWBY sisters squabble. Jaune was still marveling at the boys' agile performance. "Wow, those guys are really good."

"Well, they are brothers," Pyrrha replied. "They've probably trained together for their entire lives."

"Yeah. It'd probably take me years to do moves like that." He mused.

They watched as the board game quickly escalated in intensity. For several minutes Skipper and Ruby were throwing move after move at one another, their voices becoming audible from their table. Pieces started to fly off their table as the two opponents were neck and neck. Their match had drawn out for so long that Private's plate of fish and chips had been emptied.

At this point Skipper turned to his bespectacled brother. "Kowalski, options."

Kowalski pulled out a clipboard and started whispering to his brother's ear. "I suggest using the Mistralian Sea Cutter maneuver, using the Tempest card to lower her defenses in lieu of the usual Artillery Strike. If she tries to retaliate, you could use the Taijitu trap card to disable any attempt at counterstrike."

"And risk leaving the South undefended? I don't think so Kowalski!" said Skipper.

Kowalski flipped to the next page. "What about the Wild Hunt maneuver?"

"What are the chances of success?" the scheming leader asked.

His brother pulled out a calculator and typed for several seconds. "67 percent, sir."

With a confident grin on his face, the boy stood on the table to proclaim his victory. But just before he could call it out, the bell rang. Many of the students had begun exiting the cafeteria.

Skipper slumped back into his seat. "Aw. And total victory was in the palm of my hand!" He gritted through his teeth.

Ruby reached out a hand to the now-gloomy commando. "It's alright, you would've won anyway." Ruby showed her hand, and the cards she had would not have defended her from his attack. "That was a fun game."

"You're a good player, Ruby." Skipper replied. He then pointed to Yang. "And you, I still owe you a match." Yang acknowledged it with a nod.

The leader turned to his brothers. "Alright men, let's pack it up."

In a series of swift moves, the table was cleared of the board game, leaving only the empty plates. Kowalski then pulled out their timetable.

"Our next class is World History, Skipper."

"Let's roll!" Skipper ordered as he flipped off his seat and ran to the door. Rico and Kowalski we're close behind.

Ruby walked up to Private just before he followed. "Your brother is quite the leader." she said.

"He really is," the boy replied. "I couldn't ask for better."

"Hurry up, Private!" Skipper shouted from the cafeteria door.

"Oh dear," the boy stammered. "It was nice meeting you Ruby!" He said, waving as he ran after his team.

 _ **Later that evening, at Jaune and Pyrrha's rooftop training…**_

Pyrrha had just knocked Jaune down for the ninth time this week, and was picking him up on his feet again. Slowly but surely though, he was improving.

"Nice work," she began. "You've managed to last three minutes longer!"

"I'd like to get to five minutes." Jaune replied.

As they wiped the dirt from their clothes, they heard a smattering of hollow metal clanking, as if something was approaching. It got louder and louder, and before they knew it, the ventilation grate next to the rooftop door fell off as four boys poked their heads through the opening. They stared at the dumbstruck pair for a second before Skipper broke the awkward silence.

"This isn't the food storage," the boy said. Immediately he started pushing the other three back into the vent. "Dive, dive, dive!", he ordered, following them back down.

Pyrrha called out to them. "Wait! What are you doing?" The four protruded out of the vent again, and this time, the smallest one spoke up.

"We're looking for the food storage." he said, earning a slap from his leader.

"Through the vents?" Jaune asked.

Before Private could reply again, his mouth was shut by Rico. The boy then grabbed his brother's arm and pushed it off his mouth. "Well actually, we're looking for our dorm room."

Pyrrha walked closer. "I'm pretty sure the exchange students have a separate dorm building."

"Mistral's walls, we're in the wrong building! Kowalski, reassess those blueprints!" Skipper groaned.

Kowalski replied. "Sorry sir, reading in tight shafts is slightly more difficult than anticipated."

As the four dived back down the vent, Skipper pointed to the two teens. "Hey lovebirds," he called out, causing the two to flinch and turn red. He started waving his arms slowly. "You didn't see anything, got it?"

The flustered partners nodded meekly. Pyrrha was just about to say something, but the four had vanished back into the vent. A second later, Rico popped back up to grab the vent grate and sealed it back on, leaving the two alone and embarrassed on the rooftop.

 _ **Finally, in team SKPR's actual dorm room….**_

Team SKPR's dorm room was messy. Not in the sense of a cluttered mess, but rather an overstuffed space littered with all manner of gadgets and papers and an unusual amount of foil wrappers. Rico was busy trying to tear his pillow apart, while Private was still arranging his shelf of unicorn plush toys. Near the window, Kowalski and Skipper were wearing headphones, listening intently to a small device with a radio dish placed on their bureau. Kowalski's fingers delicately turned the small dials on the gadget, adjusting volume and frequency to gain a clear reception.

Through the static, the two heard a peculiar conversation.

" _The White Fang, all of it!"_ , said a female voice. " _Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!"_

Another more familiar voice spoke up. " _Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it."_

"Isn't that Yang?" Kowalski asked.

" _Well I'm not! They don't know the White Fang like I do!"_ the first voice shouted.

Before they could listen any further, the device was struck by a flung half-pillow, knocking it off the bureau. The two listeners' ears were struck by piercing static, forcing them to remove their headphones.

"Rico!" Skipper shouted. "We're conducting an audio surveillance here! Do you mind?"

"Sorry." Said the boy in a raspy tone.

Kowalski readjusted the device, turning the dials once more to regain the conversation. After a few seconds, clear voices came through once more.

" _They're out there somewhere planning their next move and none of us know what it is but it's coming whether we're ready or not!"_

It was all they could hear before the device short-circuited.

"Kowalski, analysis." Skipper ordered.

The inventor broke open the case and observed the damage. "Sorry sir, but I don't have the parts to repair it."

"So", Skipper began, taking off his headphones. "Little miss Red and her team has intel on the White Fang. Boys, looks like we've made progress on our mission. Tomorrow we rendezvous with those girls at approximately 1600 and nab the rest of the info we need." His brothers saluted in response.

A few hours later, as the rest of the campus was asleep, Skipper stood in front of the window staring at the shattered moon. His scroll was in his hand, and he held it close to his mouth.

"Skipper's log. Our first day at Beacon, and already we have a lead on our mission. So far we've managed to maintain the secrecy of our operation, but being in unfamiliar territory, I remain vigilant. Despite the peaceful relations we've managed to strike up with the locals, I fear that deep down that the only people I can trust is my team. But, if the citizens of Vale are anything, it's that they're trustworthy enough to be usable to our plans. End log."

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 **A/N: I can't believe I spent a whole day writing this. Still, no regrets. At the time of writing this, I'm still thinking up the Penguins' exact arsenal and powers, but hopefully I've made a decent enough introduction for readers to want to continue onwards.**


	2. Adjustment

**A/N: Early responses look positive, so thanks for that. Just a heads-up, the next chapter will be delayed. I need to plan out the story and this fanfic will consume the rest of my time for the real world if I don't take a break. Anyways, enjoy.**

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The dawning sun slowly crept into Vale's morning sky. The first few rays of light darted into the windows of the dorm rooms. Birds started chirping in the air. The tranquility of daybreak was then shattered by the sound of a loud trumpet playing _Reveille._

The sound came from team SKPR's dorm room, specifically from Skipper's alarm clock. Almost immediately, the commando's teammates leaped out of their beds and stood straight and ready for orders.

Skipper paced around the room as he spoke. "Rise and shine, boys. I hope you nancycats slept well because we've got a busy day ahead of us. Priority alpha is to familiarize ourselves with the terrain." He then pulled out another copy of their campus map and began pointing on it. "Our first mission is a double entendre."

"Ooh, I like second servings!", Private remarked.

The commando continued, "A morning jog following the designated route, which will allow us to recon the entire campus and, provided we stick to schedule, finish at the cafeteria just in time for the doors to open." His teammates high-fived to themselves.

"Excellent forethought, Skipper," Kowalski added.

Skipper wrapped up his map and tossed it to Kowalski. "Alright soldiers, Operation: Waffle Run is go!"

Bursting through the door, team SKPR ran down the hall in single file, sliding down the staircase rails then rolling out the front door for a brief team stance. After a second of surveying the empty campus grounds, Skipper flicked his wrist then somersaulted down the steps and began their morning run, his team following close behind.

To call the actual operation a jog would be inaccurate; they jogged only 40 percent of the time, the remaining 60 being rolls, flips and jumps in between cover spots where they took notes analyzing the campus for future strategies.

Just as the four finished their pillar-to-pillar bouncing maneuver in a side path, they almost ran into Professor Ozpin strolling from around the corner.

"Impressive technique, although you might want to be more watchful for incoming obstacles," the professor pointed out.

"We're sorry, sir," Private said.

"It's alright. I understand you came from Atlas, correct?", Ozpin asked.

"Affirmative, sir," Skipper replied, saluting as he talked.

"General Ironwood warned me of your rather unorthodox routine. While I am glad to see students taking the initiative, I must remind you that you are in my academy. I'll let that little stunt with the smoke bomb slide, but that is the last I want to hear of anything like it. Try not to destroy the campus before the festival even begins. Have a good day, boys."

And with a sip of his coffee, Ozpin moved on.

"We should do as he says," Kowalski began. "We can't risk any complications like detention to our mission."

"I agree 100 percent," Skipper remarked. "Now let's finish this patrol before the doors to the cornucopia swing open!"

The four brothers were making a beeline for the cafeteria. Private was lagging behind the other three, almost out of breath.

"Kowalski, ETA on the objective?"

The gadgeteer pulled out Skipper's map and held it out in front of his eyes. "If we maintain our present velocity we should reach the target in exactly one minute and twenty-two seconds."

Immediately after saying that, Kowalski slammed into a tree. "Make that twenty-eight seconds," he groaned.

Shaking off the bark, he quickly recovered and managed to catch up to his brothers.

Skipper noticed that the doors were opening. Doing a triple flip forwards, he kneeled just beneath a tree with his palms on the grass. Rico was the first to leap off of Skipper's hand catapult. He grabbed a tree branch, swung forward and then landed on the door. Kowalski jumped next, and then it was Private's turn. Gasping for air, he stopped right in front of his brother.

"Time waits for no one, soldier!", Skipper emphasized.

Taking one deep breath, he launched himself off his brother's hands and swung on the tree branch. However, his landing was a little short of the mark. Skipper followed right after, leaping over his tired form.

"Outstanding, boys! High five!"

Skipper, Kowalski and Rico high fived as they walked inside, leaving Private in the doorway, still squat and catching his breath. Before he knew it, a small hand was lowered in front of him. The boy looked up and saw Ruby and her teammates. He grabbed Ruby's hand and she pulled him off the ground. "Thanks," Private uttered.

Yang walked ahead of the girls. "I'll grab you guys some breakfast!", she hollered. At around this time, clusters of students slowly approached the cafeteria for breakfast.

"Hello! You must be Weiss and Blake", Private greeted.

Blake just muttered a "Hey" under her breath before walking in. The other three walked in behind her.

Ruby spoke first. "I take it you guys went on some sort of early morning exercise."

"Well after last night's ventilation kerfuffle, Skipper thought it'd be best to know the campus before we try anything else."

Ruby was puzzled. "Wait, what happened?"

Private sheepishly scratched the back of his head and put on a hesitant grin. "Well, it's a long story, but the gist of it was that we ended up in the wrong building."

Seeing how nervous the boy felt about discussing it, Weiss decided to switch topics. "So, Private, where are you from?"

Private responded with a chipper tone. "We're from Atlas. I've never really been anywhere beyond the kingdom, so this is my first time in Vale. We haven't seen the town yet, but so far I'm having a whale of a time."

"Well I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to see all the sights while you're here," said Ruby.

Skipper then shouted from across the hall. "Private I suggest you ten hut over here ASAP before Rico eats all the smoked salmon!"

The hungry punk cried out an operatic "Fiisshhh", which echoed across the enormous hall and was audible even through the growing noise of students filling up the cafeteria.

"I should go. Talk to you later then!" And he ran to his brothers just in time to have the last piece of salmon.

 _ **After breakfast...**_

Team SKPR's first class for the day was Professor Goodwitch's Combat Training. After thirty minutes of lectures, it was time for the sparring match.

"Any volunteers?", the teacher asked.

Only a few hands were raised, and Glynda peered at each willing participant. "Miss Valkyrie, I appreciate the enthusiasm. I'll match you against one of the exchange students." Nora immediately got up and went to her locker to grab Magnhild.

"Wish me luck, guys!", she said.

Looking through the array of candidates, she picked a particularly eager hand waving in the air.

"Rico, is it? Alright then."

The boy jumped out of his seat in excitement and ran down as fast as he could.

The twin banner screens hanging above the combat arena lit up to show the two combatants' names and aura levels. After a minute or so, Rico emerged onto the arena with a rocket launcher in his hands and a devious grin on his face.

For a few seconds the two fighters circled each other, sizing each other up. Then, Nora made the first move. Shifting Magnhild into its hammer form, she leaped into the air and to crush her opponent with a swing, only for him to dodge to the right and unleash a barrage of Dust rockets.

With a pull of the trigger, Nora blasted her way out of the line of fire and switched her weapon back to its ranged mode to retaliate. For a minute or so, the blasts from both players permeated the arena, slowly but surely lowering their aura levels. Eventually it built up a thick cloud of smoke that started to obscure the arena and rise to the bleachers. And that's when the explosions ceased.

Nora was virtually blind. With Magnhild in hammer mode, she kept her eyes peeled for her opponent's silhouette. After a few seconds of scanning the clearing smoke, she saw a shape stir the smoke and launched herself at it. The resulting clash cleared the obscuring cloud, allowing everyone to see Nora locking her hammer against Rico and his weapon, which had switched forms from a rocket launcher into a pair of swords.

Up in the bleachers, the rest of team SKPR cheered their brother on. "Atta boy, Rico!", Skipper hollered.

On the other hand, Ren looked visibly concerned. Rico reminded him a lot of Nora when it came to their combat performance. The two had a bloodlust for battle, and it was readily apparent in the grins that had persisted on their faces while fighting.

The two combatants were pushing against each other. Rico was strong, but his current stance meant that he was being pushed down to the floor by Nora. Deciding to take advantage of her forward force, he leaned on his back, causing her to roll forward. At this point Rico finished up with a strong kick, sending her flying to the wall behind him.

Now with his foe still reeling, Rico combined the two swords to form a chainsaw and charged towards Nora to finish the fight. Propelled forward by his weapon's recoil, he was moving too fast to react when Nora swung her hammer at him at the point of collision. The resulting explosion knocked the two to opposing walls. And that's when the buzzer rang.

The final explosion had brought both combatants' auras into the red, and Glynda ended the match. Patting the dust off her shoulders, she called out to the two students.

"Well, that was certainly a bombastic performance. While the two of you show proficiency with your weapons and techniques, I urge you to practice self-restraint. It might save your life in battle."

Rico walked up to Nora, still on the floor, and stuck his hand out to help her get up. She readily accepted it.

"You're alright Rico," Nora began. "Most of the time my opponents chicken out when they spar against me."

Rico's reply was a series of guttural babbles and ecstatic motions. Amid the unintelligible gibberish, Nora could understand the delighted tone in his voice and took notice of the repeated "Kabooms" he would utter. She nodded awkwardly, having a vague of understanding of the whole response. Seeing his teammates at the door, Rico blurted out a raspy "goodbye" before catching up to his brothers.

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 **A/N: Rico's weapon, in retrospect, took too long to conceptualize. At first I was split between the rocket launcher-chainsaw and the dual swords, but then I said "Screw it, just stuff them into one!", because if you really think about it, Rico would be insane enough to do that. If you like this story and are a damn good drawer, I challenge you to actually visualize it.**


	3. Preparation

**A/N: Remember what I said about the next chapter being delayed? Yeah I lied to myself. Its as if some otherworldly hoodoo-voodoo force compelled me to get this next part done. The fic will most definitely get delayed after this chapter though. Still, I hope you enjoy it. ^_^  
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 _ **Domestic Student Dormitory  
Beacon Academy Campus  
1600 hours**_

Team SKPR was gathered inside a bush just outside of the Beacon students' dorm building. They had their weapons equipped and carried a knapsack each. Skipper quickly poked his head above the bush to check their surroundings before crouching again.

"Kowalski, progress report!"

The boy pulled out a diagram of the dormitory's room assignments, courtesy (without permission) of the building's lobby. "According to these blueprints, team RWBY's dorm room should be right above us."

Taking out his spyglasses, the scientist looked up at the building, noticing the open window. But then his attention turned to something else. Turning around to his commanding officer, he tapped Skipper's shoulder.

"What is it, soldier?", the leader asked. Kowalski handed him the spyglasses and pointed at him to look up. Skipper saw two boys approaching the window. One was a Faunus boy with a monkey tail walking on a high branch, the other was a human boy with blue hair tiptoeing on the thin ledge towards the window.

"Assassins! Sent to silence the witnesses!", he muttered. Putting down the binoculars, Skipper turned to his brothers. "Men, we need to stop those spies before we lose our intel! This is a capture-and-interrogate operation, use lethal force as a last resort." That last detail saddened a trigger-happy Rico, who had his rocket launcher readied.

"Rico and Kowalski, you tackle the twinkletoe with the teal hair. Private, you're with me, we're grabbing the Faunus."

"Aye-aye, Skipper," said Private.

"Alright, Operation Monkey Wrench is go!"

Meanwhile in team RWBY's dorm, the four girls had just cooked up their plan.

"Great," Ruby began. "We'll meet out tonight with Yang to go over what we found. Let's do this!"

At that instant, several figures flew into their room from the window. The four instantly jumped back in complete surprise as two boys hit the door, pinned and surrounded by four others. It was Sun and Neptune, held against the door by their throats by Skipper and Rico.

"Alright you, talk!" Skipper shouted, slapping the Faunus boy's face and shaking him repeatedly as he yelled. "Who sent you?!"

Ruby and Yang dived into the pull team SKPR off of Sun and Neptune. The two boys coughed and fixed themselves up. Neptune asked if he could have a water bottle, while Sun was still rubbing his cheeks.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked, flabbergasted.

"We just saved your lives, Ice Queen," Skipper replied, shaking Yang's arms off of him.

"What are you talking about? They're our friends!", Ruby explained.

Private then entered the conversation. "But we saw them sneaking up on you from the window! We thought they were assassins sent by the White Fang to kill you!"

"We just wanted to ask if we could help them," said Sun. "I've fought with these girls against them before, figured I could help them get back at those jerks."

"A likely story," Kowalski quipped. Rico pulled out one of his swords, ready to slice.

"Wait, how did you guys know about our dealings with the White Fang?", asked Blake.

"That's classified," said Skipper, who responded in a suspiciously fast rate.

"Then why were you outside our dorm room?", the faunus girl asked.

"Because we want your intel on those hooligans, missy." Skipper paused to close the window and the curtains before pulling out a dossier from his backpack labelled "TOP SECRET".

"My team and I are also on a mission to find the White Fang."

The boy handed the file to Blake, who quickly pored through the written pages to look at the photos. They were blurred, but it was clear that the subject was a tall figure wearing what appeared to be a tricorne and a scarf. Before Blake could look any further, Skipper swiped it from her hands, saying "Times up!" as he did so.

"We were in pursuit of a Tango Primary who was in league with those masked fiends back in Atlas," Skipper continued. "Our last piece of intel led us to believe that he's hiding somewhere in Vale, so we signed up for the Festival to flush him out and take him down!"

"Okay," Yang stepped in. "It's clear that we all want to go after the White Fang. Why don't we just drop the hostilities and team up?"

Weiss scoffed in rebuttal. "You've got to be joking."

Skipper walked to his team for a huddle, and Private was quick to speak his mind. "Skipper we can't say no to this. I think they could be really helpful. After all we still don't know much about Vale."

"I have to concur with Private sir," Kowalski added. "According to my projections our chances of success will increase by a minimum of 75 percent if we agree to this coalition."

"Kowalski you know how I feel about the concept of a confederacy!"

The commando turned to Rico, who was jabbering and nodding in agreement with the other two. Seeing that his team had made their decision, Skipper slapped the three of them in the face with a single swipe of his palm. "You guys are a bunch of suckups! But I have to admit, democracy prevails."

Skipper sighed and turned to face the rest. "Alright. Against my deep-seated paranoia, I'm willing to collaborate with you on this joint operation. Fact of the matter is you ladies know more of this place than we do."

"Sounds fine with me," Blake said.

Yang and Ruby high fived to one another. Weiss relented to her teammates' acceptance.

"Does this mean we can still join?", Sun asked.

Private turned to the Faunus to apologize. "We're sorry about tackling you."

Sun waved his hands to reassure the remorseful boy. "It's okay. No harm done."

Now that everybody was on the same page, Skipper asked away. "Alright Ruby, what's your plan?"

The girl stepped forward. "Well our idea was to split up. Weiss and I are gonna go to the CCT to check the Schnee Company records for Dust robberies. Blake will sneak into a White Fang meeting tonight, and Yang is gonna go meet up with an informant in the shady side of Vale. Then we all meet up with her with the info we have."

"Not bad," Skipper commented. "But now it's time for some amendments."

The leader started pacing back and forth in front of his teammates, barking out orders with each step. "Kowalski, you and I are going to tail the Cat Ears in her infiltration. Keep an eye out for anybody that gets a whiff of suspicion."

"Affirmative, sir!" said Kowalski.

Skipper pulled out an earpiece from his pocket and tossed it to Blake, who caught it in her hands.

"Shortwave communicator," he explained. "Keep us posted while you're behind enemy lines." Blake nodded and put it on her ear.

Skipper then turned to Rico. "Rico, I want you to be Blondie's backup. She's going deep into hostile territory, so excessive force is authorized."

The unstable punk was giddy with enthusiasm, rubbing his hands while muttering "Kaboom" in between his restrained chuckles.

"Private, since you're on reserve I want you to scout out the city in a recon patrol. I expect you to know Vale like the back of your hand by 2300 hours," Skipper continued. "Red Hood and the Ice Queen will finish up quickly anyways, so you'll be going with them."

"What's 2300 hours?," Ruby asked, whispering to Weiss.

"It means 11:00 PM.", the white girl replied.

"Oh."

"Where does that leave me and Sun?", Neptune inquired.

The Faunus boy slid to Blake's side. "I'll go with Blake to the meeting."

Neptune was still unaccounted for. "What about me then?"

The Schnee girl uttered out a suggestion, blushing ever so slightly. "I suppose you can come with me. That leaves Ruby free to go with Private for a tour of the city."

"It's not a tour, it's a reconnaissance patrol," Skipper interjected.

"Alright but I'm tagging with you just to show Private the CCT," said Ruby to Weiss.

Private tapped his hands together. "Sounds like a good start to me."

"Any more questions?", Skipper asked, stepping forward as he did. He looked at the nine readied teenagers, and none of them uttered another query. "Okay then. Everyone will rendezvous back here at approximately 2300 hours. Alright fellas, commence Operation: Jawbreaker!"

* * *

 **A/N: Phew. I feel like I'm doing something wrong because each chapter is shorter than the next. Maybe I'm just pacing these poorly. But I assure you the next chapter will be longer than this because it'll cover more than a room conversation. Anyways, thanks for reading, I hope you like it, leave a comment etc etc. I'll see you round and remember: Just smile and wave boys. Smile and wave. ;)**


	4. Reconnaissance

**A/N: Aaand we are back. I've managed to write not one but two chapters. Why? Because I'd feel bad if I stopped at a chapter where not a lot really happens.  
**

* * *

 _ **Cross Continental Transmit Tower  
Beacon Academy Campus  
1630 hours**_

Ruby, Private, Weiss and Neptune walked in the shadow of Beacon's CCT. While the latter two were getting to know one another in a conversation weaved with flirting, Ruby and Private stayed approximately five feet behind just so they can't hear the two.

As they approached, the red-hooded girl marvelled at the sight of the structure. "Wow! It's so tall!"

"This is probably the closest I've been to a Transmit Tower," Private began. "I could always see the one in Atlas' skyline, but we never really went to it."

"Let's take a photo," said Ruby, pulling out her scroll.

However, she was so excited that she dropped it and it bounced across the stone floor for several feet, landing in front of someone's shoes. Ruby and Private chased after it, only for the person pick it up.

"Oh. You dropped this," said the stranger, who held the scroll out to her.

Ruby was shocked to see the familiar face. "Penny?"

Penny wasn't even able to utter an answer before the girl in red started to unravel with questions. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you since the night at the docks!"

"Sorry," the ginger girl stuttered. "I think you are confused." Then she let out a hiccup, causing Ruby's scroll to leap off her hands and back to its owner. Growing agitated, she turned around and walked away fast.

Private, still out of the loop, asked his companion for an explanation. "She's a friend of yours?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's go after her!", Ruby beckoned.

"But what about Weiss and Neptune?", Private asked.

"We'll meet up with them later. They've got it covered," Ruby said. "Now come on!"

The two jogged after Penny, who was walking hurriedly down the steps.

"Wait!" Ruby urged. "Where have you been? We haven't seen you for weeks!"

The redhead picked up her pace in an attempt to escape the conversation. "There must be a misunderstanding."

But Ruby would have none of it. Sliding down the rails ahead of Private, she stopped in front of Penny and grabbed her arm. She now had the latter's attention.

"Penny, you have to listen to me. I don't know what's wrong with you but those guys we fought at the docks, we think they're up to something big and bad! I'm asking you as a friend, please tell me what happened that night?"

The girl was at an impasse. It was clear that Ruby wouldn't leave without answers.

Penny sighed and whispered into Ruby's ear. "It isn't safe to talk out here."

"What do you mean?", Ruby asked.

Penny eyed her surroundings with suspicion. "I need to go now. Come find me at Joey's Cafe in Vale at 5:00. I'll be there and we can talk." After that she ran off.

Private walked up to Ruby's side. "Don't worry Ruby, I'm sure she'll be there," he commented.

"I hope she does," The red-hooded girl sighed. "We should get going. I know this nice store that sells these sweet peanut butter-flavored candy bars that you can't get anywhere else in Vale."

The young private gasped in excitement as he followed her to the helipad. "Peanut butter winkies? Those are my absolute favorite! Do they sell those sugar-coated marshmallow kitties too? Rico likes those."

 _ **Joey's Cafe  
City of Vale  
1700 Hours**_

Penny stood outside of the cafe, nervous and watchful. After several minutes the dread in her had built up to the point that when Ruby tapped her on the shoulder from out of nowhere she flinched back in shock.

"Penny this is Private," said Ruby, pointing to the boy behind her with the hefty bag of candies. "He's with me."

"Hello Penny", the boy greeted.

"It's always nice to meet a friend of Ruby's," she replied.

Private fished out a chocolate bar from his bag and offered it to her, to which she kindly refused. The three then walked down the sidewalk as the ginger girl attended to her friend's concerns.

"I wish I could help you, Ruby, but I don't know anything about those men," Penny asserted.

Ruby simply lobbed her more questions. "Well, where did you go that night? You were with us and then you disappeared. Did they kidnap you?"

"Oh, no! Nothing like that!", Penny said, waving her hands in a sign of reassurance. "It's just that I've never been to another kingdom before. My father asked me not to venture out too far, but… You have to understand, my father loves me _very_ much; he just worries a lot."

Ruby smiled at her. "Believe me, I know the feeling." Penny smiled in the comfort of her friend's empathy. "But why not let us know you were okay?"

The girl answered slowly, trying to word her answer properly. "I... was asked not to talk to you. Or Weiss. Or Blake. Or Yang. Anybody, really,"

"Was your dad that upset?", the caped girl asked.

"No, it wasn't my father," Penny began. However Private beckoned their attention.

"What's going on here", he asked.

The three had arrived at a plaza where a crowd had gathered around a stage, listening to a holographic projection of General Ironwood. Behind the man were six androids split into a pair of threes, standing in front of two large metal storage cases.

"The AK-130 has been a standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job. Wouldn't you agree? Wouldn't you agree?", the General began. The androids behind him took a bow as the audience began clapping.

"But... the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and 'fine'... Well, that's just not good enough, is it?" The two storage cases opened up as Ironwood made his announcement. "Presenting the Atlesian Knight-200!"

Six bulkier androids stepped out of the cases and knocked over their predecessors. The audience applauded once more.

Ironwood continued his speech. "Smarter, sleeker, and admittedly, a little less scary." The Knights began flexing and posing.

"Well they look like a right bunch of aces," Private remarked. Ruby nodded as her eyes remained fixated at the presentation.

"These models will become active later this year, but they won't be alone," said Ironwood. "Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are still many situations that will undoubtedly require... a human touch."

Ruby and Private looked on with curiosity.

"Ruby?", Penny began, her voice laden with nervousness. Before she could grab the captivated duo's attention, the general spoke again.

"So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company, are proud to introduce... the Atlesian Paladin!"

Ironwood's hologram was replaced by that of a huge bipedal mech, easily twice the height of the Knights. It was heavily armed with twin guns and was covered in thick armor. The audience clapped once again as Ironwood wrapped up his speech.

"Now, we couldn't have him here for you today, but these mechanized battle suits will be seen defending the borders of our kingdom within the year!"

Ruby and Private were still awestruck at the sight of the Paladin as Penny called them again. She started to step back into the sidewalk as she spoke. "Ruby? Private? Maybe we should go somewhere else. "

Back at the stage, two Atlesian guards looked at the trio and noticed Penny. One pointed a finger at her while the other pressed into his helmet's earpiece for backup.

Penny made a break for it, running across the street into an alleyway. Private shook Ruby out of her stupor as he hollered out to their companion. "Penny wait! Come back!"

The two looked back from their fleeing friend and saw the two guards giving chase. Immediately they followed Penny's trail into the alley, staying just ahead of the guards.

Ruby and Private turned right in pursuit of their friend, who had just crossed another street into another alley. Behind them they overheard the guard calling out to his partner. They crossed the second street, watching as Penny turned left past a wooden scaffolding that held up dozens of boxes. Private sprinted forward and leaped, kicking one of the support beams into splinters and causing the crates to fall and block the path behind them just as they turned to the left.

"I've got an idea," said Ruby to Private. She grabbed his hand and the two jumped forward, propelled by the girl's speed semblance. They managed to catch up Penny, holding on to her as Ruby propelled them down another side alley, leaving a mess in their wake. However, the weight of her two passengers meant that she couldn't stay airborne for long.

Quickly they dropped, letting go of Penny as the forward momentum sent them tumbling. Private was thrown across the street, but Ruby fell into the middle of the asphalt, right in front of a honking truck!

Ruby turned to face the incoming vehicle, but before she was ran over, Penny pushed her into the sidewalk and into Private's arms. The two could only stand and watch with shocked faces as their friend managed to stop the truck, lifting it into the air and causing the road beneath her feet to crack and shatter.

Dropping the heavy vehicle, Penny asked if the driver was okay. The old man nodded with fear. Backing away slowly, she looked to her friends, whose faces were still stricken fright as she heard bystanders murmuring about the whole moment. Penny looked at her hands and clenched her fists. Seeing that the Atlesian guards were catching up, she ran again, right past her companions. Ruby and Private sped after her once more as the guards lost the trail.

Penny ran down the alley, stopping near a dumpster to pick her route. However, her friends had caught up to her once again.

"Blimey Penny, what was all that about?" Private asked.

Ruby was still confounded. "How did you do that?"

Penny was too nervous answer. "I can't! Everything's fine."

She hiccuped.

"I don't want to talk about it," She asserted.

Another hiccup.

Ruby persisted as Penny backed herself against the wall. "Penny if you could just tell us what's wrong, we can help you!"

"No," the latter stammered. "I can't. You wouldn't understand."

Then it was Private's turn to step into the conversation. "Penny, I may have known Ruby for only a few days, but I've spent my whole life learning to trust in my brothers. I know a trustworthy face when I see one, and I can assure you she's one of them."

Penny sighed and walked up to the two. "You're my friends right? You promise you're my friends?"

The duo nodded. "Yeah, we promise," said Ruby.

Penny couldn't look at them in the eye and showed them her hands. The skin had been tore away to reveal shiny metal underneath.

"I'm not a real girl," she muttered.

"You're a robot?", Private asked.

Penny clarified further with a sad tone in her voice. "I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an Aura. I'm not real."

Ruby grabbed her friend's hands and spoke words of comfort. "Of course you are," She began. "You think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than us?"

The robotic girl leaned closer. "You two are taking this extremely well."

"Skipper may have taught me not to trust robots, but I'm willing to give you a chance," said Private. "You're a good person."

"And you're not like those things we saw back there," Ruby added. "You've got a heart and soul. I can feel it."

Bursting with joy, Penny wrapped the two in her arms and shook them. "You two are the best friends anyone can have!" As she held them tight, her mechanical strength was starting to bear down on them.

"Sorry, but you're crushing my windpipe!", cried Private.

Ruby groaned. "I can see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower!"

Penny let them go, giving them some breathing space as she spoke with liveliness in her voice. "My father's the one who built me! I'm sure you would _love_ him!"

"Your father built you all by himself?" Ruby asked.

"Well almost. He had some help from Mr. Ironwood," she replied.

"That's why those soldiers were after you," Private remarked.

Penny nodded. "They like to protect me too."

"They don't think you can take care of yourself?", the red girl asked.

Penny elaborated. "They're not sure if I'm ready yet... One day, it will be _my_ job to save the world, but I still have a lot left to learn. That's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world, and test myself in the Tournament."

"Save the world? From what?", Private asked.

"Yeah, we're in a time of peace!", Ruby added.

"That's not what Mr. Ironwood said," the robotic girl retorted.

Before Penny could explain further, they heard someone shout "Check down here!"

Suddenly Penny grabbed the two of them by their collars. "You have to hide!", she beckoned.

"Penny wait," Ruby pleaded. "We can help you! You don't have to go with them!"

With a single hand, Penny tossed both Ruby and Private into the dumpster and shut the lid above their heads, opening it slightly to bid them goodbye.

"I'll be fine," she insisted. "They're not bad people. Just promise me that you two will keep my secret."

Private saluted at her. "You can count on us, Penny."

Penny smiled and merrily saluted back before dropping the lid on them again. Hiding in the dumpster, the two listened to the conversation as the guards caught up to Penny.

"There she is!", one of them called.

"Salutations, officers!", said Penny.

Ruby slightly lifted the lid to peek.

"Why were you running? And what happened to the boy and girl you were with?", the guard asked.

"I was by myself all day," Penny replied. She hiccuped for a second, but hid it behind a big smile on her face.

The other guard scolded her. "You shouldn't cause a scene."

"Are you okay?", his partner asked.

The robot girl showed them her hands, insisting them that it was only a scratch.

The first guard spoke again. "Penny, your father isn't going to be happy about this."

"Please, just come with us," said the second one.

"Yes sir," said Penny, who followed the guards out of the alley.

Just as they left, Private squealed. "Crikey! There's a rat in here!"

Ruby yelled and they both leaped out of the dumpster.

* * *

 **I'll be honest, this chapter was just a slog to write through, not because I don't like it but because plot-wise it doesn't deviate too far from canon. Given that Private just met Penny, he doesn't get a lot to do other than follow Ruby. But that's how it would've happened. I've tried my best to give Private some level of agency in the events, but really I just wanted to get through this part. The next part, however...  
**


	5. Espionage

**A/N: I hope you enjoy this next part, because it's quite a doozy. Also, thanks for the reviews and stuff. I urge you to leave a comment, otherwise I get as paranoid as Skipper because I don't know if I'm doing something wrong unless you point it out. Now on with the chapter...**

* * *

" _ **The Club"  
City of Vale  
2000 Hours**_

Yang turned into the unlit street to park her motorcycle. Getting off and removing her helmet, she spoke to Rico, who had jumped off the back seat and followed her lead.

"Come on," She beckoned. "My friend's right in here."

They approached the door to the club, noticing the two guards dressed in identical suits with red ties. The guards saw them and immediately panicked. They rushed inside, slamming the door shut.

Yang grinned as they stopped in front of the door. She brandished Ember Celica, ready to blow the door open, but Rico stepped in front of her.

"Wait," he grunted.

"What's up, Rico?", she asked.

Rico heaved and retched, as if he was about to puke. After a second, Yang watched in amazement as her partner gaped his mouth wide open and pulled out a stick of dynamite and a lighter seemingly from inside.

"Okay that is gross, but also really cool," Yang remarked.

"Kaboom?", the lunatic asked with glee, his lighter already lit.

"Go ahead, Rico," Yang replied with assurance. "Kaboom."

 _Kaboom!_

The door was blasted open. As the smoke cleared, the blonde girl strode inside with confidence in her step.

"Guess who's back!", she yelled.

She was met with several rifles aimed at her face and a song caught in a playback loop playing in the background. After a brief moment, the smile on her face vanished and was replaced by a vicious glare as the bear-headed DJ cut the record player before hiding back under the desk. Rico poked his head out from behind her with a kooky grin on his face; clearly he was unfazed by the henchmen and their guns.

"Stop, stop!", a voice shouted. "Nobody shoot."

Cutting through the crowd of guards was a tall, bearded man dressed in a similar outfit with the guards. He fixed up his tie as he spoke. "Blondie, you're here. Why?"

Yang walked up to him. "You still owe me a drink." She dragged the man across the room to the bar as the henchmen cleared themselves out of her path. Rico followed close behind, looking every which way to watch his partner's back, his swords at the ready.

"So Junior," she began. "What do you know of Roman Torchwick? Where is he?"

Junior walked behind the bar and grabbed a glass of whiskey, taking a sip before setting it down on the table.

"I don't know," was his answer. He held his hand to his temple as the drink rose to his head.

Yang was irritated. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I haven't talked to him," the club owner continued. "I haven't even seen him since the night you first came in here. He paid up front, I lent him my men, and none of them ever. Came. Back."

The lack of leads irked Yang. "Listen, if I don't get what I came here for, I will set _that guy_ loose on this place." She motioned to Rico, who was still keeping a watchful eye on the disgruntled henchmen as he started stabbing one of his swords into a table out of boredom. "And trust me, he can do a lot worse than me."

"I already told you everything!", Junior explained. "Torchwick hired my boys, and I guess he wasn't happy with them, which is _something I can relate to!_ " He turned to his henchmen as he said that last part of the sentence. The henchmen just started griping to themselves and walked away.

"Let's go, Rico," said Yang, disappointed in the lack of results. The rabid punk uttered out a discernible "nothing?" as he followed her out, putting away his weapon in the process.

She answered him. "Yep. We got everything we can, and it's not much. Hopefully the rest of the team is having better luck."

 _ **White Fang Meeting  
City of Vale  
2000 Hours**_

Blake traced her fingers over three white scratch marks on a wall before peeking around the corner. She watched as two horned Faunus were ushered into a building by a bearded man. Turning back around the corner, she tapped on her earpiece to talk.

"This is the place," she said.

"Roger that, Cat Ears," Skipper replied.

"Stop calling me 'Cat Ears'," said the Faunus girl.

Skipper and Kowalski watched from a rooftop across the street as Blake and Sun entered the building. Around them the streets were empty.

"Kowalski, I need a full analysis of this building's layout ASAP," Skipper ordered.

His partner pulled out his pair of experimental spyglasses from his backpack and started scanning. He switched the dial on it to switch from regular vision to x-ray to observe the inside. The view was not the clearest, but it was certainly clear enough that Kowalski could determine the outline of the inside as well as distinguish Blake and Sun's silhouette among the crowd of White Fang members and Faunus attendees.

"We're inside," Blake whispered.

"Copy that Cat Ears," said Skipper. "Keep an eye on your surroundings. Kowalski's x-ray specs aren't up to snuff."

Blake sighed into the earpiece as Kowalski talked to her. "Alright Blake, all the conventional exits appear to be guarded. The only way out will have to be through the windows up near the balconies."

"Okay," she replied. "The meeting's about to start."

"Leave the microphone on," Skipper added. "I gotta hear this."

Blake clicked on another button on her earpiece, and the two spying boys listened to the background noises become more audible before dying down.

Back at their rooftop stakeout, Skipper listened intently as Kowalski was trying to discern all the outlines that were not in the main crowd. He could make out Torchwick's silhouette on the stage, as well as an unknown female figure standing close by. Then he saw the curtain on the stage fall, revealing a stolen Atlesian Paladin.

"How did he get that?", Sun asked.

Blake saw a recognizable figure step out from behind the mech as Torchwick spoke. "A special thanks goes out to my associate Hans for this special delivery."

"Think nothing of it, Roman, my friend," said the young man with the tricorne, his thick foreign accent permeating his speech.

The Faunus girl heard Skipper growl into his earpiece. "It can't be," he muttered.

"Skipper, it's the man from your photos," She and Kowalski then uttered the same question simultaneously. "You know him?"

The angry commando raised his voice through the earpiece as he swiped the spyglasses from Kowalski's hands. "Know him?! That lowdown dirty fiend made me Vacuo's public enemy number one!" Fortunately, the rallied crowd drowned out his rant at Blake's end.

The feline girl watched as Hans walked to the right and climbed up to the balcony, walking to the back end to observe the rally. Meanwhile, the White Fang were calling for the Faunus attendees to line up for recruitment.

"I think we should go," Blake whispered.

"You heard her! Kowalski, find them an exit, pronto!" Skipper ordered. He pulled out his assault rifle and slapped on a grenade launcher as he stood up. "I'll pull a Whiskey Delta diversion."

The scientist used his binoculars to scope out the nearest ladder and talked to Blake. "Near the entry doors, there's a ladder leading up to the window. It should lead you right to the street outside."

Blake nodded and motioned to her friend to slowly back away against the motion of the Faunus recruitment line. However, Hans was watching the two of them from the balcony behind. He motioned to Torchwick, who glared at the pair.

As the two made a cautious retreat, Sun noticed through the masks that they caught Torchwick's attention. Next thing everybody knew, there was an explosion from outside and the building blacked out.

"Let's go!" Blake shouted. With their Faunus nightvision, she and Sun pushed their way through the panicked assembly to the balcony.

Meanwhile, Hans looked outside the window and saw the glow and a smoke of a fire emanating from the alley to the left. Then he saw a figure run across the street, carrying a weapon in his hands. The two made eye contact for a second, recognizing each other before the window shattered as Sun and Blake burst through.

At the same time, Torchwick fumbled in the dark to enter the Paladin, determined to stop the two spies. The machine roared to life, and after a few seconds it leaped off the stage and charged right through the wall in pursuit of them. Hans leaped on the mech's back just before it smashed its way out.

As Sun and Blake leaped on the roof of the stakeout building, Skipper and Kowalski packed up and followed tout suite. The four leaped from building to building trying to escape the Paladin, but it was hot on their heels.

The monkey Faunus shouted. "So you wouldn't happen to have, oh I don't know, some form of backup?!"

"On it!", said Blake.

She pulled out her scroll to call the rest of the team, but Skipper snatched it from her and started yelling into it. "We need reinforcements, ASAP!"

Back at Beacon, Weiss and Neptune were talking on a bench outside. The whole time they've been together, Weiss had been building up the courage to ask him out. Now that they were alone with some peace and quiet, she finally had a chance.

"Neptune," she called out.

The blue-haired boy listened. "What's up?"

"Would you-" She was cut off by her scroll ringing. Weiss turned bright red at the sound of it. Panicking, she fumbled into her pocket to pull it out. Seeing that it was Blake, she quickly answered the call and put it through her ears.

Skipper's shouting nearly destroyed her eardrums. Before she could berate the boy, the call had ended.

"What was that?" Neptune asked.

"We need to go," Weiss replied. The two immediately got up and ran to leave the campus as fast as they could.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Private were at Vale's Greenhill Mini Golf Park, playing a few rounds. Ruby was stuck on the sixth hole, getting frustrated as she failed to get the ball past the windmill.

"This is so hard," the girl whined.

Private cheered her on. "Don't worry Ruby, I'm sure you'll get it. Just remember to time your swing. Think of it like aiming with your rifle, waiting for the perfect time to pull the trigger."

Ruby took a deep breath, as if she wanted to bend the will of the universe just to get it right. Focusing hard on the spinning windmill, she waited for one of the blades to pass over the hole. After counting each pass for several seconds, she took a swing.

That's when her scroll rang. The sudden alarm jolted Ruby into swinging the club too hard, causing the ball to fly in an arc, hitting one of the blades and flying off to the side.

Ruby quickly answered the call and the two heard Skipper calling for backup.

"Let's go. I really don't want to miss this." said Ruby, sighing in disappointment.

Private alleviated his friend. "You'll get it next time."

Yang and Rico were sitting on Bumblebee just outside the club, her scroll in her hand. "Where are you guys," she asked.

As if on cue, the four ran down the street behind with the mech close behind. Rico blurted out a "Hi guys!" and waved just as Yang revved up her motorcycle to follow them.

The pursuit had moved to the highway. Blake, Sun, Skipper and Kowalski jumped from car to car, trying to stay ahead of Paladin. The mech built up speed, knocking vehicles out of its way as it approached. Hans climbed to the top of the machine, nimbly keeping his balance on it as it doggedly pursued the four teenagers. Through the sounds of careening cars he shouted out to his old enemy.

"Hello Skipper! Still running from Vacuo?!" He taunted.

The furious commando answered his rival as he leaped onto another car. "Hans! I will see you burn! You hear me?! Burn in the pit of hate!"

Hans grinned. Unveiling his shotgun, he propelled himself off the Paladin. He fired a few shots, then turned his weapon into a cutlass in midair. He landed on the same car as Skipper, who clashed against him with his weapon, which had shifted form from an assault rifle into a balisword.

"You still haven't missed a step", said the scoundrel.

As Skipper and Hans dueled on the roof of a car speeding at over 50 kilometers an hour, Yang and Rico caught up to the Paladin from behind. Rico pulled out his rocket launcher and fired several shots, keeping the exhaust open so that the recoil doesn't propel him off of Bumblebee. Torchwick growled at their interference and started flipping cars their way. Rico ceased firing as Yang swerved out of the way of the tumbling vehicles.

The Paladin passed under a perpendicular freeway where Weiss and Neptune were waiting. The two leaped off and landed on top of the machine. Neptune dug his trident into the metal to keep them on, holding Weiss' hand tight as she stabbed Myrtenaster into the Paladin to secure their grip. Torchwick noticed the commotion and swung the Paladin on its waist pivot wildly, trying to shake them off.

Up ahead, Blake, Sun and Kowalski landed on separate vehicles- a van, a pickup and a big rig.

"Hang on, guys!", Sun shouted.

Smashing his hands together, Sun summoned two golden copies of himself, which leaped off the truck and bounced across cars until they collided with the sprinting battle mech, exploding into a shower of golden light. Immediately afterwards, the Faunus boy leaped forward with his staff for a powerful strike.

However, Torchwick managed to shake Weiss and Neptune off of him, sending them flying. Neptune collided with Sun in mid-air and they both hurtled off the freeway.

Weiss managed to halt her uncontrolled flight with a few well-placed air glyphs. She jumped from one glyph to another before landing on the road ahead of the war machine. As cars zoomed past, the white-haired girl spun the revolving chamber on her rapier before stabbing it into ground, causing a layer of ice to form.

The Paladin slipped on the ice and started tumbling off the freeway. It landed feet first on the ground below, where Ruby and Private were waiting. Ruby had Crescent Rose at the ready, while Private unsheathed his golf club, which quickly transformed into a bladed polearm.

Meanwhile on the highway, both Hans and Skipper noticed the war machine fall off the road. Hans used this opportunity to kick Skipper off to the side, but the boy was caught by Kowalski on the adjacent car. Blake called to the both of them, and the three hopped off of the highway as Hans followed from behind.

Back at the bottom, Ruby and Private were swiftly joined by the rest of their teammates. Hans leaped down as well, landing on top of the Paladin. He shifted his sword back into its shotgun form as the assembled teams RWBY and SKPR stood battle-ready.

"Ladies first," Skipper remarked.

Ruby nodded before calling out the Freezer Burn maneuver. As the eight huntsmen split up, Weiss summoned another layer of ice on the ground. Yang jumped into the air and smashed it, causing a thick mist to permeate the battlefield.

The Paladin took several steps forward as it scanned the surroundings. Hans kept his eyes open, peering into the mist as several figures darted past and stirred it. Torchwick turned and took several shots. Hans also fired a few rounds, yet none seemed to hit. With their attention distracted, the pair was too late to react when Rico rocketed out of the fog and dug his chainsaw into the front end of the mech.

On cue, the remaining seven leaped out of the mist from all directions. Ruby yelled out "Checkmate!" while Skipper called out for Attack Plan Zulu. Weiss and Blake ran forward and started slashing at the Paladin's feet. Then, Weiss jumped up and stabbed one of the sensors, disabling it. Meanwhile at the mech's rear, Kowalski donned a pair of battle gloves which ejected ten small Dust orbs from its knuckle notches. The orbs began to levitate around him, and with several hand gestures, he caused bolts of fire, ice and lightning to emanate from three of the spheres. Hans dodged and parried each attack, which allowed Private to run up to the mech and slash the more vulnerable heels, causing the Paladin to fall on its back. Rico leaped off with a strong kick powered by his rocket launcher while Private dodged out of harm's way.

Hans jumped off of the staggered mech and onto the ground, where he squared off against team RWBY. He dueled with Blake and Weiss simultaneously in melee combat, jumping and flipping every which way to avoid the half-sisters that lunged in and out of the fray frequently. Despite being outnumbered four-to-one, Hans never wavered in his assault. Switching between cutlass and shotgun modes frequently, he managed to keep the four girls at bay, but in return he couldn't land a critical hit on any of them.

In the midst of battle, Ruby yelled. "Weiss, Ice Flower!"

Backing out of the fight, Weiss jumped to Ruby's side and summoned a glyph right in front of her aimed scythe-rifle. The white girl's retraction from the melee allowed Yang to jump in and tussle with Hans alongside Blake, her gauntlets blocking the criminal's blade.

Ruby watched the brawl continue. Weiss stood confused, seeing that her partner still hasn't fired.

"What are you doing?", the white girl asked. "Shoot!"

"Not yet," Ruby replied. "We need to wait for Yang."

"What are you talking about?" Weiss asked.

"Every blow Yang takes makes her stronger," the girl in red explained. "We need to wait for her to build up her strength."

The two watched patiently as the skirmish dragged on. Blake was slowly losing stamina. It wasn't long before Hans managed to land several blows on her.

"Getting sloppy, are we?" The scoundrel taunted.

Weiss was getting worried. "Shoot now!" she urged.

"Not yet," her partner insisted.

After a few more seconds, Ruby noticed that her sister's hair started to emit flames, and that was the cue she was waiting for. She pulled the trigger.

The sound signaled both Blake and Yang to dodge away from Hans as the shot flew towards them. The treacherous villain lapsed in confusion, and before he knew it ice crystals suddenly appeared on his feet, pinning his arms and legs to the spot. This left him vulnerable to a Semblance-powered Yang, who sent him flying with one powerful punch.

Meanwhile, Torchwick got the Paladin standing once again as team SKPR rallied together.

"Kowalski, give me options," Skipper commanded.

As he said that, the four dodged a barrage of missiles launched by the Paladin.

"I would suggest aiming for the weak joints," said Kowalski.

Skipper reloaded the clip on his gun. "Alright boys, let's send this tin can to the scrap heap! Private, deploy decoy!"

"Aye-aye, Skipper," said Private. Shifting his polearm into a rifle, he fired several shots to gain Torchwick's attention. Running low on ammo, the man switched the Paladin's guns into fists and charged forward to crush the fleeing boy.

Kowalski and Rico flanked around the mech and aimed for the shoulder joints. Rico launched himself with a blast from his rocket-saw, aiming to slice through the left shoulder joints. Kowalski retracted his Dust orbs into his gloves with the exception of the wind and lightning orbs, which he fused to form a new plasma orb. Gripping the orb in his hand, the inventor suddenly burst into bright blue flame, and from his hands he unleashed a blazing beam of plasma at the right shoulder to melt the joints.

The Paladin's arms fell off thanks to the conjoined attack. Now armless, the machine stopped chasing Private as it turned to watch the four combatants surrounding it. Private charged first, pole-vaulting with his weapon, but he was met with a powerful kick that sent him smashing through a pillar.

"Private!", Skipper yelled. He ran to his brother to check on him.

He cleared the debris off of Private as he spoke. "Speak to me, soldier!"

"I'm okay," the boy groaned as he got up.

Skipper growled. "Alright you bucket of bolts, now you've done it!"

And with those words, the commando suddenly phased out of sight.

Rico and Kowalski attacked next. The barrage of rockets and plasma blasts caused the machine to lurch backwards. Torchwick swung the pivot around as the flashes blinded him. He looked on in surprise as Skipper seemingly appeared out of nowhere, firing a grenade from the underslung launcher right into the mech's hood.

The proximity of the blast caused the damaged Paladin to explode into pieces, sending Torchwick flying. It was at this point that the airborne Hans collided with him and the two crooks tumbled across the ground together.

"Get off me!" Hans exclaimed, pushing Roman off of him.

The two defeated criminals pushed themselves off the floor as their eight opponents cornered them.

"Let 'em have it, Rico," Skipper ordered.

The lunatic took a deep breath and gagged out an explosive dust crystal that hurtled towards their foes, only for a girl with pink-and-brown hair to drop in front of the two men and block it with, of all things, an umbrella.

Torchwick patted the dust off his clothes as he bid the eight huntsmen and huntresses farewell. "Ladies, gentlemen, Ice Queen." That last remark caused Weiss to vocalize a "Hey!" at him.

"We'll meet again, Skipper," Hans jeered. "Count on it!"

Torchwick addressed his assistant. "Neo, if you would."

The girl took a bow. As Rico regurgitated another Dust grenade, Yang charged forward to attack. Her punch caused the two to shatter into glass. It was an illusion! Yang looked around to find them, and before they knew it a Bullhead had passed over them with the three already on board.

Skipper turned to his brothers. "Mission accomplished, men. High five!"

As team SKPR high-fived to themselves, team RWBY was disappointed that Torchwick got away.

Yang spoke up. "So I guess he got a new henchman."

Weiss replied. "Yeah, I guess she really made our plans _fall apart_." She paused to let the pun sink in, but only Ruby giggled as the other two walked away.

"No, just no," said Yang.

"You do it too," Weiss retorted.

Yang talked back. "There's a time and a place for jokes."

"And this wasn't it?"

"No," the blond girl responded. "It just wasn't very good."

"Let's blow this dump," said Skipper.

Rico, seeing that his grenade was no longer needed, threw it away in dejection. The eight teenagers left the area, and in the distance behind them, an explosion and someone screaming "My car!" was audible. That's when Ruby realized something.

"Wait, where are Sun and Neptune?"

* * *

 **A/N: We all know where those two went, so no bother in repeating it. So yeah, Hans is the new villain here, there's that. On team SKPR's weapons and powers: Some tough decisions were made. Kowalski's arsenal was the hardest to decide for because I struggled for something unconventional to reflect his nature as a scientist first and a soldier second. Eventually I settled on the Dust orbs to tie into the chemistry/alchemy facet of his scientific work. So, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter because now that's done we're back to their out-of-combat antics. But first, another break.**


	6. Debriefing

**A/N: Ta-da! A new chapter! If you also noticed, the fanfic has a new cover. I made it myself, you can find a horizontal version of it on Deviantart or Imgur. While writing this I was also doing some concept sketches for how I wanted to visualize the humanized Penguins in RWBY, but that won't be showing up on the internet until it's sufficiently good. I'm also happy to see the huge spike in views, but I'm disappointed in the lack of extra comments because it means I still don't know if I've been doing something wrong for the past five chapters. Anyways, enjoy!**

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"A wallet! A pair of headphones! Some house keys!"

Teams RWBY, JNPR and SKPR all sat close around the same column of tables at the cafeteria. Most of their eyes were on Rico, who was showing off his storage Semblance by spewing object after object in a bizarre 'game' with Nora, who was listing off as many items as she could think of for the unhinged punk to disgorge.

This 'game' had been going on for the past five minutes, although everyone on team RWBY and JNPR pretty much lost their appetite when it first started. The pile of items Rico had pulled out of his mouth had slowly been taking up table space.

"You must have dozens of items in there, Rico." Jaune said.

"Hundreds rather," Kowalski clarified. "823 items to be exact."

Jaune blinked.

"We do an inventory check every now and again." The gadgeteer said.

Kowalski then turned to Nora, who was still zestily spouting out more suggestions. "Nora I appreciate the assistance in practicing Rico's Semblance, but I think he needs a rest."

Rico grunted and shook his head, telling his brother that he was capable of continuing.

Kowalski was still unsure, but he relented. "If you insist, Rico."

"A backscratcher! A toy truck!" Nora continued. "Speakers!"

"Actually our speakers got broken the night before we moved." Private interjected.

"Thanks for the reminder, Private." Skipper said. "Kowalski, add 'Speaker Replacement' to our priority list."

When Rico spat out the toy truck, it rolled off the pile of items and slid down the table, only to halt at Blake's left hand. She was one of the few among the twelve that weren't watching Rico and Nora as she was too busy reading her notebook.

"Hey Blake, can you pass that over here?" Nora asked.

With a swift turn of her wrist, the Faunus girl slid the toy truck back up the table. Rico caught it and immediately swallowed it, sending it back to wherever it was stored.

Ruby used this opportunity to talk to her teammate, her concerns carried through her voice. "Blake is something wrong?"

"I'm fine." She replied with an indifferent tone, not even looking up from her notebook.

"You don't look fine," Ruby continued. "You look tired. Have you been sleeping late?"

"It's nothing." The girl in black insisted, closing her notebook.

Skipper got up and moved closer to the two. "Oh really? Look at those sleep-deprived eyes, and the secretive way you hold your notebook. Blake, you have the symptoms of PIO."

"PIO?" Ruby asked.

"Paranoia-Induced Obsession," Skipper explained. "Take it from a specimen whose tackled with it tooth and claw before." The commando pointed to himself as he said that.

"This is none of your business, Skipper." Blake retorted.

"Antisocial behavior. Another prime symptom of PIO." The boy added.

"Please, that's just how she is." Yang quipped.

Skipper spoke again, shifting from his natural charismatic tone to faux seriousness. "Yang, POI is no joking matter. Just ask Manfredi and Johnson!"

"Who the heck are Manfredi and Johnson?" Yang asked.

Skipper lowered his head and closed his eyes, acting as if he were at a funeral. "Such brave soldiers...Fell victim to POI."

Private spoke from further up the table. "I thought you said Manfredi and Johnson got lost in the woods and never came back."

"Kowalski, give Private the 4-1-1." Skipper ordered.

Kowalski pulled out his clipboard and filed through the various cover stories for what really happened to the infamous pair. After a few seconds of choosing, he put it down and spoke to his brother impassively. "You don't have the clearance level to access that information."

Blake asked Skipper. "Did Hans have anything to do with what happened Manfredi and Johnson?"

"Negative."

"Hans?" Yang spoke. "You mean that guy we-"

Ruby motioned to her sister to remind her about the secrecy of their activities.

"Actually, I'll ask you about it later." The blond girl said.

As if on the nick of time, the lunch bell rang. Their next session was Combat Training with Professor Goodwitch. The three teams immediately got up and headed out, leaving Rico and Nora behind as the two were stuffing the items hastily into the boy's mouth.

"Ren? Pyrrha? Guys? A little help please?!", Nora yelled.

"Rico you're not leaving until every last piece of junk you pulled out is back inside." Skipper said. "That's an order, soldier."

"Aw man!" The punk growled.

"You better hurry guys," Pyrrha teased. "You know how much Professor Goodwitch hates it when her students are late..."

 _ **One hour and thirty minutes later…**_

Pyrrha had just wiped the floor with Team CRDL in a 4v1. Up in the bleachers, Team SKPR keenly observed, gathering intel for the upcoming tournament.

"Kowalski, analysis." Skipper whispered.

The scientist put down his notebook. "Fascinating. Several moves had been precisely manipulated to ensure negative impact."

"Negative impact?" Private asked.

"A complete miss. According to my physics calculations several of those attacks should have hit, and instead of colliding with the target they miss just by a few centimeters. At multiple points during the match, members of Team CRDL stumbled, as if an external force suddenly came over them and caused them to slip their balance just a tiny bit."

"Silent, subtle, directed with care." Skipper added. "Adjectives to describe the most covert of maneuvers."

The four boys returned their attention to the arena, where Pyrrha had been dueling an exchange student named Mercury. After a minute or two of sparring, the exchange student had forfeited.

"Well that was disappointing," Kowalski remarked. "Not a lot of data to gather."

The bell rang, and Glynda made some last-minute announcements. "And remember, the dance is this weekend, but you all have your first mission on Monday. I won't accept any excuses."

As Skipper stood up he processed the announcements. "Dance? I don't remember anything about that during the briefing. Kowalski, clear this up for me."

No response.

"Where'd he go?" The leader asked.

The three glanced around the room, looking for their brother. Rico then yelped and pointed down towards the doorway. The trio watched as Kowalski asked some random girl to the dance. Although they couldn't hear the conversation, it was clear from the girl's motions that she wasn't interested. They walked up to him just after she left. As he turned to his brothers for comfort, all he received was a slap from Skipper.

"Eighty-six the lothario act, Kowalski! That dance is a waste of time."

Kowalski sighed. "You're right, sir. I'm just chasing phantoms ever since-"

The commando slapped him again. "No unauthorized flashbacks! We still have some cases to crack."

Rico cracked his knuckles and giggled in excitement.

"Stand down, soldier. That was a metaphor." Skipper remarked. Rico moaned dismally.

As the quartet walked out of the building, Skipper elbowed to Private. "Private, extract some snacks from the vending machine and report to Team RWBY's dorm at 1700 hours."

Private saluted and scampered to the vending machine. Meanwhile, his brothers went back to their room to grab their files. After procuring the snacks, Private was on his way to the dorms, cutting across the open park to get there. Feeling a tad peckish, he fished into his bag for some cheese puffs. As a result, he failed to see where he was going and he tripped on someone's leg.

"I'm sorry!" A familiar voice cried out.

It was Jaune, sitting under the shade of a tree with a guitar. The blond boy got up and helped Private pick up the mess.

"Thanks, Jaune." Private said. "Nice guitar."

"No problem," Jaune replied, helping him up off the ground. "I'm going to ask Weiss to the dance with this." He strummed a few chords as he spoke.

"Oh, how romantic," the Private said, tapping his hands. "Hang on a minute? You're not going to ask Pyrrha?"

Jaune paused from his tuning. "Ask her what?"

"To go to the dance with you." Private said, opening up a bag of cheese puffs. "Aren't the two of you in a-"

Jaune spoke, interrupting Private from finishing his sentence. "Well no...I figured since she's so popular, somebody must've asked her already."

"You didn't try to ask?", Private asked, offering Jaune some of his cheese puffs.

"No." The blond boy answered, taking a handful.

As the two finished the rest of the cheese puffs, Private stood up. "Well, you should at least try and give it a gander. Like Kowalski always says: 'You learn nothing without trying.'" He tossed the plastic bag into a nearby trash bin. "I have to go. Good luck, Jaune."

Jaune waved Private goodbye as the latter walked away. He then returned to his composing, but his mind was mulling over their conversation.

When Private arrived at Team RWBY's dorm, his brothers were already there, sitting on the floor with the girls and their files sitting in a pile in the middle.

"Aw Private, you ate the cargo again?" Skipper groaned.

"Just one bag of cheese puffs." Private replied, wiping the cheese dust off the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief.

As everyone took snacks from Private's bag, Weiss spoke up to review her information. "Alright, so the Schnee Dust Company records show that Vale has been the primary target of Dust robberies over the past few months."

Kowalski bit into a candy bar as he spoke. "Did those records include any cases for Schnee Dust Company robberies that weren't Dust-related? Any statistical anomalies?"

"Just a few reports of piracy. Stolen dust-processing equipment, mostly newer models. Based on eyewitness testimonies, they were White Fang, but Torchwick wasn't seen among them." The white girl replied.

Skipper spoke next. "Then it has to be Hans. That dastardly wretch leaves nothing but trouble in his wake whenever he's high-tailing the high seas. If he's stealing the latest in dust-processing technology, then he must be cooking up something way bigger than just a big heapin' bowl of revenge."

"So what did happen between you and him that got you banned from Vacuo?" Yang asked, grabbing a handful of chips. "Must be something pretty juicy if the law here in Vale doesn't even know."

"That's private, Yang. Between me, Hans and the Vacuans." Skipper took a sip from his soda can. "I'm Vacuo's biggest dirty little secret. Nobody outside of that kingdom knows about it, except for Hans and now you guys. So remember it, and forget you ever heard it."

Blake spoke next. "Well aside from Hans, we know that the White Fang have an operation in the Southeast. We have our first mission on Monday so we could use that as an opportunity to check it out."

"And we'll stay in Vale and see if Hans is still slithering around." Skipper replied, sticking his hand out to Rico, who passed him an opened bag of chips.

The commando motioned to his brother as he chewed. "Kowalski, crunch the numbers for me. I want them ground up like Dust powder."

The scientist pulled out his calculator and typed with rapidity, then started writing into his notebook. After a few seconds of calculations, he spoke. "There's 50.999 percent chance of finding Hans within three miles of Vale."

"Well at least is higher than a straight-up fifty." the leader remarked, disgruntled by the projections.

Kowalski reviewed his calculations. "The probability variables would've been higher if Hans wasn't aware of our presence in Vale."

Skipper asked again. "What about the girls?"

"Based on the geographical data and historical records, and accounting for Grimm concentration, I've calculated an 85 percent probability of the existence of a White Fang hideout in the Southeast. However any attempt at accurately determining the scope of their presence there is pretty much guesswork. " The scientist concluded.

"I'm not sure if I should be liking those odds." Ruby responded.

Team SKPR took their files in a few quick moves and stood up.

Skipper spoke. "Alright ladies, looks like we have a plan of attack all settled out. Good luck on your mission." He looked at Kowalski's watch. "Boys, let's pack it up. We've got some prepping to do."

He then turned to Yang and whispered in her ear. "Keep on eye on Cat Ears. Something tells me she's not willing to wait for Monday to get your investigation going."

The girl gave him a thumbs up as Blake glanced at the two skeptically.

Skipper pointed to Rico. "Rico, engage exit strategy."

The punk opened the window, much to the confusion of the girls. Then, with a salute, Team SKPR jumped out of the window in single file, grabbing onto branches in the tree just outside of the room. From the tree they flipped into the air and landed on the field below. The four ran off as Weiss shut the window.

"We should keep this closed more often." She griped.

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 **A/N: To answer someone's question on other PoM villains: Sorry, not gonna show up. Maybe when I write the sequel that takes place during Volume 3, we'll see. Updates will be sporadic, but the story outline is set in stone. See ya next time! ^_^**


	7. Reassessment

**A/N: Hoorah for updates! A special shoutout goes to kuletxcore for sharing this fic on reddit: Thank you for that and I'm glad you peeps are enjoying this fic. I hope you like this next chapter ^_^**

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While pretty much the rest of Beacon was either in leisure mode or preparing for the upcoming dance, Team SKPR's Saturday was one of constant training. After an early morning patrol and a hearty breakfast, the four brothers spent their noon out on a field practicing synchronized combat techniques. So engrossed they were in their training that they completely ignored several spectators who had been watching their routine for the past several minutes.

"Left Kick! Air Twirl! Double Punch!"

Skipper yelled move after move, his brothers moving in timed unison.

"Back Flip! Drop Kick! Uppercut! Man-Ladder!"

The Man-Ladder technique had the four boys stacking themselves on each other's shoulders, forming a tower over ten feet high. Rico was at the bottom, holding up his brothers with a surprising level of ease. At the top, Private was giving it his all to maintain his balance.

"Just a few more seconds, soldier." Skipper ordered.

Kowalski checked his pocket watch. "Just an additional 15.3 seconds!"

Private was straining to stop himself from swaying. After a few seconds of struggling, he seemed to gain his footing on Skipper's shoulders. However, his calm quickly shattered as Kowalski yelled.

"Incoming projectile!"

A ball was hurtling through the air and was on a collision course with the SKPR Man-Ladder. Private began to panic and lose his stability. Skipper noticed his brother's struggle and immediately barked out commands.

"Private, disengage ASAP! Kowalski, Rico, brace for impact!"

Private quickly backflipped into the air and landed on the ground deftly. He watched as Kowalski let go of Skipper's legs and observed as the two jumped into the air while Rico rolled backwards along the grass. While the scientist landed on the ground, Skipper leaped towards the ball and gave it a swift punch. As the commando landed, the ball crashed like a miniature meteor through a tree and broke a wooden bench. The sound of snapped wood echoed across the air like a gunshot. The four watched as a small crowd gathered around the mess, then Kowalski caught sight of Professor Goodwitch's outline approaching the scene and motioned to his leader.

Skipper became alarmed, knowing that they would be in dire straits if they stayed. "Evasive maneuvers, men!"

The four sprinted away from the area as fast as they could, managing to slip out of Glynda's sight just as she arrived.

Turning the corner of a building, the quartet almost collided with Ruby.

"There you are," She said. "I was looking for you guys."

Private spoke in-between gasps of air. "What do you need, Ruby?"

"Just some extra hands in setting up the ballroom." She replied. Her voice didn't sound particularly high-spirited.

"Kowalski, schedule me." Skipper ordered.

Kowalski pulled out their Saturday schedule. "Seeing as how we just abandoned the combat maneuvers, we would be moving on to the strategic theory exercise."

"Well push it back." The leader said. "I signed up for this festival to kick some butts, not shake 'em. But…. _semper fi_ dictates that we leave no huntsmen behind."

"Thanks, guys." Ruby turned around to lead the way.

Kowalski sighed as he walked. "And I was so ready to dominate the battlefield…"

As the five moved to the ballroom, Private noticed that Ruby had slowed her pace, staring at the ground as she walked as if her mind had wandered. She was already falling behind the four of them when Private moved back to talk to her.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Huh?" Ruby raised her head. "No, not really. It's about Blake. She's letting the investigation go to her head and we can't get her to take a break by going to the dance."

"Oh. I know how that feels like." The boy said.

Ruby listened to Private as he recalled a memory. "Back when we were in combat school, Kowalski got so depressed because this Faunus girl he had a crush on dumped him, and for two whole weeks we couldn't get him to get over it. He wouldn't eat, his grades slipped, and he spent more time alone when we needed his help to design our weapons."

"Sounds bad," She commented. "What did you do to get him out of it."

"We snuck into an Academy weapons lab." Private beamed.

Ruby pricked up her ears as Private's tale began to appeal to her finely-tuned weapon sensibilities. "Oh my gosh, did they have machine guns? Electroblasters? Heat-Rays?"

"All that and more." The boy explained. "It was the only thing Kowalski was willing to get off his bed for. We got in fine and dandy, but even when we were surrounded by all these cool weapons his spirits weren't totally lifted. But then we got into a spot of bother."

Ruby rolled her eyes at the banality of that statement. "Of course you did."

"Rico got a little carried away with the flamethrower and spilled a bunch of Dust vials." Private continued, laughing weakly at the memory of it. "But when it came down to the wire, Kowalski snapped out of it. He managed to stop the fire before it blazed out of control. We managed to walk out of there without a single burn, and Kowalski forgot about his worries. That whole kerfuffle even managed to give him some inspiration for our weapon designs."

"Did you get in trouble for sneaking in?" the girl asked.

"No, we didn't get caught."

After a few seconds of silence, Ruby spoke up. "So Private, are you going to the dance?"

"I wish I could go," the boy replied. "Skipper says we can't because we need to train for Monday. What about you?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not really into dancing."

"I'll admit, I'm not exactly a good dancer myself." Private scratched his cheek nervously as he said that.

"You guys train everyday and you still can't dance. Don't you ever take a break?" Ruby asked.

"We sometimes do, but Skipper is always the one to call the shots."

"But if you wanted to go take a break, then just say it to him. He's your brother, I'm sure he'll understand." She responded.

"I want to say something but a lot of times he talks me out of my suggestion. It's not that I doubt him, it's just that I'm kind of scared to stand by what I said." Private lowered his head in dejection.

"Well maybe you should start talking harder."

Private stopped and let Ruby's words sink in.

" _Maybe I have been talking too softly this whole time…"_ he thought.

Just then, he heard Ruby calling out to him to catch up. He quickly scuttled.

The five entered the ballroom, seeing an enormous work-in-progress. Weiss was busy setting tying down the balloons while Yang was placing the chairs. Boxes and tables still lay unpacked and stacked against the wall.

"Hey! It's the guerrilla gang!" Yang shouted from across the hall. The four boys saluted as she slid down the staircase rails and walked up to them.

"Ready for orders." Skipper said.

Yang pointed to several boxes lying under the staircase. "We need to set up those ribbons above the dance floor, then we still have the tables to arrange, and then the lights and the DJ equipment."

"Say no more, Yang." Skipper replied as he turned to his brothers. "Kowalski, you're handling the lights and electrical wiring. Private, you're on the table division. Rico, you and me are on decoration duty. Operation: Party Pooper is go!"

Private giggled at the name as he started carrying tables and set them down on the designated spots marked by tape. Ruby followed behind him, draping the white cloth over each table the boy set down. At the far end of the ballroom Kowalski dealt with the wiring, accidentally zapping himself once or twice. Rico and Skipper worked as a single unit, forming a two-man ladder as they taped the ribbons to the chandeliers. With the boys' methodical help, the ballroom was set up much sooner.

As the three exhausted girls sat around a table, the four brothers high-fived in success. Then Sun and Neptune walked in, the first in the whole school to see the finished ballroom.

"Not bad," the blue-haired boy complimented. Weiss seemed to have awakened from her slump as she stood up.

"Where's Blake?" Sun asked. "Is she still being all...Blake-y?"

Yang got off the table and started to leave the ballroom. "She is, but trust me, she'll go the dance."

Skipper motioned to his teammates to leave as well. "Let's blow this popsicle stand boys, we still have a strategy exercise."

Kowalski rubbed his palms and taunted a challenge to his brother. "Prepare your armies, Skipper."

Sun turned to the four as they walked out in single file. "You excited for tomorrow night?"

Skipper hollered to him, not even turning his back to face Sun. "Negative, Banana Tail. We've got more important things to do than spend four hours at a dance."

"Banana Tail?" The Faunus boy mouthed. Neptune chuckled at the nickname, much to his partner's chagrin.

 _ **The day after….**_

Team SKPR returned to their dorm room after breakfast. As soon as the other three walked in, Skipper locked the door behind him and closed the curtains. He acted more paranoid than usual, and knowing how paranoid Skipper usually is, this left the brothers a bit confused.

"Boys," Skipper began. "It's time to give you a mission briefing."

The commando pulled out a folder from under his bed and slammed it down on their table. Kowalski, Private and Rico looked at the cover, which was marked "HIGHLY CLASSIFIED" and titled "Plan Omega Zulu."

Kowalski read the file intensely, growing more upset with each page. After a minute of reading, he threw it at Skipper, irate.

"This is it?!" The scientist yelled. "Your mad scheme to steal back your Vacuan security file?"

"The Vacuans…" Skipper growled, swiping the folder from his brother's hands. "How long must they hound me for crimes I may or may not have committed?! Which may or may not have involved a devious pirate and a high-ranking member of the governing council!"

"Skipper, why are you bringing this up now?" Private asked.

"Excellent question, my adorable little soldier." Skipper ruffled his brother's hair. "Do you remember a few weeks back when we snooped on the White Fang in that warehouse at Atlas?

The boy nodded. "The one where we saved those hostages?"

"Exactly." Skipper continued. "One of them was a suit from Vacuo, he recognized me when I pulled them to the extraction point. He spilled the beans on the status of my security file as a little thank you gift. Apparently, it's neither in Vacuo or Atlas."

"Where is it then?" Private asked.

Skipper pulled out a photograph of a file cabinet from the Omega Zulu folder and showed it to his brothers. "Cabinet 15. It's a stack of historically-insignificant documents, and right now it's on its way to the Vale Archives from Mistral for storage with a bunch of other trinkets. Hidden in that pile of useless papers is my file."

Kowalski queried his leader with skepticism. "But Skipper, why would they hide it in such an innocuous location?"

"According to my little birdie, the incident with me and Hans had compromised their security so much that the top brass of Vacuo thought that hiding the file in their own territory couldn't guarantee its safety anymore. So instead, they decided to hide it in plain sight, where no-one would ever think to look for secrets: alongside a bunch of dusty old census records." Skipper took a sip from his styrofoam coffee cup. "They certainly couldn't hide it in Atlas, knowing I lived there. So the Cabinet went on rotation between Mistral and Vale, and neither kingdom even knows about the file, seeing how scandalous its contents are."

Private was still uncertain. "Did you know that the Cabinet was on its way to Vale before we signed up for the Vytal Festival?"

"Ordinarily, the transfer would've happened the week before we moved to Beacon." The commando then pulled out the morning newspaper and showed them the article about the archive transfers. "I suspect that Hans' piracy spree off the coast of Vale might've caused them some delays and that's why the transfer's happening this Monday."

"When they can get Huntsmen to help protect the cargo!" Kowalski added.

Skipper patted his brother's back. "Bingo, Kowalski. Move to the front of the class."

Rico then pulled out a wanted poster of Hans from his mouth, pointing to it and babbling with a puzzled tone.

Private nodded to his psychotic brother and turned to his leader. "Rico's right, Skipper. What about sweeping the city for Hans?"

Skipper put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Private, we have plenty of opportunities to flush out that rat. He's my archenemy, and archenemies always return. But this file, we may never get another chance to clear my name. We get that file, and I'm as free as a pretty songbird. We could finally go to Vacuo if we pull this off! Can I count on you for this special mission, soldier?"

The boy contemplated for a few seconds, then saluted weakly. "Aye-aye, sir."

"That's my boy." Skipper smiled. He then looked at Kowalski and Rico, who saluted as well. The commando held his chin high as he spoke. "Alright men, we commence Plan Omega Zulu on Monday!"

As Kowalski and Rico began setting up another game of Remnant, Private walked to the closet and opened it. Rummaging through their things, he spoke up. "Skipper, permission to plead request?"

"Permission granted, Private."

The boy took a deep breath and spoke loudly. "Permission to attend the Beacon Dance, sir."

"Denied, soldier. We've been through this already." Skipper's reply was instantaneous.

"But Skipper-"

"No buts, Private!" His leader insisted. "We still have some stealth and infiltration training for today, and you're still short of the mark on your camouflage techniques."

Sighing, Private quickly put on a gas mask and turned around. His brothers only had a second to react in confusion before they fell to a surprise knockout gas bomb. Opening the window to let the gas out, Private tucked in his sleeping brothers in bed.

"I'm sorry about this Skipper, but I've decided to talk harder."

With the gas cleared out of the room, Private took off his gas mask.

"Now to find some formal clothes."

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter took a while because of three reasons. The first is that I wanted to get the Ruby/Private conversation right. Writing interaction between two pre-established characters that have no previous interaction beyond the confines of this story is hard. The second reason was that I scrapped a whole scene set after Yang's talk with Blake about her backstory, which I had to toss because it would've made Yang's conversation null and I felt bad for sticking too close again. The third reason was chapter structure. I wasn't sure whether to move the Sunday morning scene into the next chapter, but then I got worried that it'll leave the whole dance part a little too short. So I decided to leave you on a silly cliffhanger. See y'all next time.**


	8. SNAFU

**A/N: I hope I've done this chapter well. I'm getting really worried about the quality of my chapters because of the lack of feedback. Still, I hope you enjoy this next part.  
**

* * *

Private looked at himself in the mirror. His tuxedo still fit him like a glove. Tightening the bow tie around his neck, he glanced at the reflection of his sleeping brothers. He then checked the clock again, and realized that the dance had begun. He rushed out of their room, locking the door and sliding down the staircase rails before leaving the building. As he crossed the campus he still felt guilty and nervous about knocking his brothers out, but hopefully they would stay asleep until after the dance.

Private peeked open the back doors to the ballroom. The stunning imagery, the music and overall atmosphere came down over his poking head like a wave crashing on the shore. He hadn't even entered the building and already he felt like he should stop, turn around and leave. Shaking off his stress, the boy took a deep breath, squatted, and quietly slipped in.

Keeping his head low, Private skimmed across the perimeter of the ballroom, moving behind chairs, tables and other forms of cover so as to not be seen. He moved behind the DJs and peeked past a huge subwoofer. He caught sight of Ruby standing alone at the punch table. Private slowly approached, trying to maintain his cover. Several people watched him sneak past them with confused looks.

Ruby held a half-filled glass of punch in her hand as she watched as everyone else having a better time than her. As she took a sip she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Private saluted at his friend, who was markedly surprised not only by his sudden appearance but also his outfit. Among all the suit-wearing attendants, he seemed to embody the image perfectly.

"I thought Skipper wouldn't let you go?" She said.

"It's like you said," He answered. "I talked harder. You look good in that dress."

"Thanks, but I still think these clothes are stupid." Ruby replied. "I don't even know how Weiss manages to fight in these shoes."

Private laughed. "So you went alone?"

"Yeah," Ruby sighed. "At least everyone else is having fun."

As she took another sip, she noticed Private's hand outstretched in front of her.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't have any." The boy said.

Ruby was apprehensive, but her friend's simple, endearing smile and wide-eyed amiability seemed to convince her otherwise.

"Maybe just one," She said, holding Private's hand. "If only I could move three steps forward without falling over."

 _ **Meanwhile, in Team SKPR's dorm...**_

Skipper rose out of bed, woozy. As he rubbed his eyes open and stretched, he noticed that his brothers were also waking up as well.

"Kowalski, analysis." The leader yawned.

The scientist put his glasses back on and peered their surroundings. "Either we were captured by an unknown enemy force and placed in a facsimile of our own dorm room to serve as a prison, or we somehow fell asleep on our own beds."

Rico shot himself up, spitting out the alarm clock that he had been gnawing on in his sleep.

As Skipper stood up, he scratched his head. "Something's missing."

Kowalski looked around. "Board game, check. Training schedule, check."

"Give me a head count." Skipper ordered.

Kowalski pulled out his calculator and typed for several seconds before tossing it off to the side. "We have three heads, sir."

"Where's the Private?!" Skipper demanded.

"Unknown, sir." Kowalski replied.

"Mistral's walls!" The leader exclaimed, tossing his bedsheet aside.

Rico pointed to Private's bed, and the three saw that it was occupied. Skipper walked up to it to check on his brother. Taking off the bed sheet, he was surprised to see Rico's "Ms. Perky" body pillow being used as a decoy.

"What the?!" He grabbed the pillow and started slapping it like he was an interrogator. "What have you done with Private? Talk, mister!"

"Uh, Skipper?" Kowalski interrupted. "The last thing I remember seeing was Private wearing one of our gas masks."

Skipper gave one last slap as he dropped the pillow, allowing Rico to pick it up and check on it like it was a real person who was slapped. "Are you suggesting that Private was a double agent and backstabbed us all, Kowalski?"

"That would be one of my theories, but I think I found a more rational answer." The scientist pulled back the curtains and pointed to the only lit building in the evening-shrouded campus.

Skipper slapped himself in the face. "I oughta court-martial that boy for insubordination. But I also have to commend him for getting the drop on us with that gas bomb. I might have to move his promotion to First Class a little closer."

"What are your orders, sir?" Kowalski asked as he and Rico stood up.

Skipper hesitated, looking back and forth at his brothers and the ballroom across the campus. Sighing, he spoke. "If Private has the moxie to go AWOL on us just to spend the night at a dumb old dance, then maybe we should let him have his fun."

His teammates nodded.

"And then we court-martial him!" Skipper added, to the dismay of his brothers.

 _ **Back at the dance...**_

After one dance, Ruby and Private spent the rest of their time sitting at a table near the main doors with drinks and twisted feet. One dance was enough for both to realize that if they spent any more time on the dance floor, they'd both end up walking with crutches by tomorrow. Right now they watched as Team JNPR dominated the dance floor with a stunning routine.

"I'm surprised Jaune asked Pyrrha to the dance." Ruby remarked. "He's been trying to ask out Weiss the whole week."

Private smiled as he watched the fruits of his advice. "I suppose something convinced him otherwise."

Ruby got up to grab another glass of punch. As she left, a tactile vibration in his pockets alerted Private's attention. It was his scroll, and it was a call from Skipper. The noise of the party forced him to answer the call outside. Nervously, he put the device to his ear.

"Hello?" He uttered.

"Enjoying your night, soldier?" said Skipper.

"Skipper! As a matter of fact, I am." Private replied, his jumpy tone quickly turned into a cheery one.

"Good. Because you're in big trouble when you RTB."

Private's guilt hit him like a brick. "Aye-aye sir."

"Glad to hear you admit it." Skipper concluded. "Have fun at your hoedown." And with that sendoff he hung up.

"Private! There you are." A voice cried out from behind.

It was Ruby, who had been looking for him. She held her punch as they conversed.

"Thinking of leaving early? Me too." She said.

"Huh? No, it was just Skipper calling." Private explained, holding up his scroll.

"Checking up on you?" She asked.

"You could say that." He timidly laughed.

"Oh boy, what did you do?" Ruby's derision underlined her amused tone.

Private felt awkward as he answered. "I _may have_ used knockout gas on them."

Ruby did a spit take. "That's your idea of talking harder?!"

"No," He retorted. "I tried talking harder. Then I used knockout gas on them."

"Well I can certainly understand why he'd be-" Before Ruby could finish, her eyes caught sight of something. Private was puzzled, and peered towards the direction she was looking.

The two stared out across the campus, fixated on the same object. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop was a figure in black. It looked to be female based on the outline. They couldn't make out any more details based on the low light and the sheer distance. They watched as the mysterious figure disappeared behind a roof.

Private quickly picked up his scroll in panic. "Crikey! I gotta call the guys!"

"They're too far away." Ruby argued. "Come on!"

The two walked down the steps towards the buildings the figure headed towards. Pressing a button on their scrolls, the two summoned their weapon lockers, which rocketed from the school's armory and landed in front of them. Ruby and Private retrieved their respective weapons and continued moving.

As Ruby and Private approached the Cross-Continental Transit Tower, they noticed the unconscious Atlesian guards lying in the bushes. Running up to one of them, Private checked the guard's condition as Ruby looked at the trail of downed guards leading into the CCT.

"He's still alive." Said Private. "I hope the rest of them are."

Ruby unsheathed Crescent Rose as she stepped into the tower. "She's inside. We have to go now!"

Private followed her lead, turning his golf club into its rifle form. Passing by several more downed guards, the two scrambled inside the elevator and waited impatiently as it climbed up. As they ascended, Private took out his scroll again and attempted to send a text message to his brothers for backup.

"We're ten floors away. Is that really necessary?" Ruby asked.

Private put the scroll away. "Sorry, I'm just a bit nervous."

The elevator doors opened, and the pair slowly walked inside the office. They tried to maintain a level of stealth, but Ruby's stilts clicked with each step. As they looked around, the office was empty. If the intruder was in here, she wouldn't have a lot of places to hide. Private and Ruby split off to cover both sides of the office, their eyes peeled for the slightest hint of movement.

That's when the intruder rose from her hiding spot. She had a stern look on her face, yet she didn't seem intimidated by the fact that she was outnumbered two-to-one.

"Excuse me, this isn't a masquerade party." said Ruby.

The woman pulled out a Dust powder cartridge from her holster and swung it in front of her in a wide arc. At that moment, clear Dust crystals laced with explosive power formed in the air and she hurled it at the two. Parrying the attack, Ruby fired several shots while Private rushed in with his polearm.

As the woman dodged the girl's attacks her clothes glowed a fiery orange. When Private lunged forward for a stab, he was immediately blocked by a pair of obsidian Dust blades. The boy began taking the offensive as his weapon kept him just out of range of her swords, and any attempt at moving closer was met with covering fire from Ruby. Private spun around for a wide slash, only for the woman to backflip. Ruby entered the fray, pouncing with her scythe above her head. The woman took another backflip to dodge the girl's downward slice and combined her swords into a bow. She summoned three glass arrows and fired. The bolts' explosive impacts forced Ruby to dodge back, her high heels impairing her balance. Private switched from polearm to rifle and took several shots of his own, only for the intruder to block each one with her hand, giving Ruby an opening to get close again. This time, she even managed to get a slash in, but the woman shrugged it off with her Aura. As the pair pushed their enemy towards the window, the elevator door opened.

Ruby turned around to see General Ironwood walk in on their battle. The burglar used this opportunity fire another volley of five arrows just as Private charged in to attack with his polearm. The explosion kicked up a huge amount of smoke, and when Private swung down with his weapon, the woman had disappeared.

"What happened?" The General demanded.

The two put down their weapons as they stuttered to find an explanation.

"She got away!" said Private.

"No…" Ruby uttered.

The two sat down on chairs, dismayed.

As internally furious as the General was that such an incident occurred, he remained his composure as he chastised the two. "You two should go. There's nothing else you can do here."

"Are the guards alright?" Ruby asked.

"They'll be fine," Ironwood insisted. "Report to Professor Ozpin's tower tomorrow at 7:30. We'll talk about this there. But for now, you should get some rest. It's been a long night."

The two nodded and entered the elevator. As it descended, Ruby spoke up.

"I think I've seen her before."

Private glanced. "The cat burglar?"

"Yeah." Ruby muttered. "I think she's with Torchwick."

"So if she is with him, then she might also be with the White Fang. What do we say to the professors tomorrow?" The boy asked.

The elevator door opened and the two walked out of the tower. As they moved down the steps and left the vicinity, they watched as Atlesian guards moved in to pick up their fallen comrades. After a few seconds of planning, she snapped her fingers.

"Maybe we could lead them on about what we know."

"What, you mean tell them about the info we gathered on the White Fang?" He asked.

"Sort of. We should tell it to them in a way that doesn't give away the fact that we spied on them. Like pointing them in the right direction." She explained.

"Well when you put it like that, I suppose we could." He nodded in agreement.

The duo passed by the ballroom. The dance was still in full swing, with many still inside and enjoying the evening.

"This was one doozy of a night." Private commented.

"Yeah," Ruby sighed. "It would've been cool if she didn't get away."

"Now I'm kind of okay with the fact that I used the knockout gas on Skipper and the others." The boy smirked.

Ruby chuckled, even though she was still upset about their failure. "Yeah. If he didn't call you and you didn't go outside to answer, we might not have even noticed the break-in."

"Yeah." He sighed.

Private then stopped as he turned the path back to the exchange student dorms. "Goodnight Ruby." He waved as he took his leave. She waved in return and they went their separate ways, anxious for tomorrow.

When Private arrived back at his dorm room, he saw that Skipper and Kowalski were waiting for him by playing a card game, while Rico was busy destroying a model city on the table built out of books, toys and other assorted objects.

"Clean yourself up, soldier. I thought you went to the dance, not boot camp." Skipper remarked.

The boy collapsed on his bed, yawning. "Sorry, Skipper, but I got into a bit of a kerfuffle."

"What, someone stepped on your foot and you fell down on the dance floor?" His brother snickered.

Private couldn't answer back, as he had fallen asleep. In the distance beyond their window, the ringing of clock bells echoed across the night as the clock struck midnight.

* * *

 **A/N: Yeah I know she totes noticed the break-in on her own, but come on it was a chance happening. With the conclusion of the dance arc, we move to the final arc of this fic: Omega Zulu. There's gonna be another big long delay between this and the next chapter because my approach would be to write all the way to the ending and then chop it up into chapters. Until then: Smile and wave. ^_^  
**


	9. Deployment

**A/N: Okay I confess: I didn't work on these chapters immediately after Chapter 8. Real life got in the way big-time, but better late than never, right? One the other hand, I'm glad to see the rise in views and reviews during the interim, thank you for that. Now as a comeback present to you loyal readers, I want to share with you guys this little thing I made during the break, if you haven't already seen it: Go search up Team SKPR on Deviantart, I can't get a full hyperlink in here, but the thing is there.  
**

 **Yes I have drawn them ^_^ The full profiles would take far longer because I suck at digital drawings. (I don't even have a tablet v_v) But enough of that, let's get back to the story!**

* * *

The ascent up Ozpin's tower was nerve-wracking for Private. Even though he and his brothers had a history of getting into trouble, the boy was still not used to being reprimanded, at least not by himself.

"Remember the plan." Ruby reminded him.

The elevator doors opened, showing Ozpin's spacious office laden with clockwork gears turning in unison behind glass. Ozpin, Ironwood and Goodwitch stood waiting around the main table.

"Thank you both for coming." Ozpin greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess." Ruby replied. She still had a lingering nervousness.

Private lowered his head. "I woke up early with a case of the jitters."

Ironwood stepped forward as he spoke. "I feel it's appropriate to let you know that what the two of you did last night is exactly what being a Huntsman is all about. You recognized a threat, and you took action."

Ruby nodded in comfort. "Thank you, sir."

The general turned to the downer boy. "You did the best you could."

"For once, I'm not being scolded when I'm in sent to the teacher's office." Private murmured to himself, audibly relieved.

Ozpin addressed the two again. "The general has already informed us of the events that transpired last night. Now that the two of you have rested, we we're wondering if you had anything to add."

"Was anyone else with her? Did she look familiar to you at all?" Glynda asked.

Ruby elbowed to her friend.

"Well I've never seen her before." Private began. "She kept using this black glass that she shapes into weapons. It was quite explosive." He turned to Ruby to follow up, as he was anxious to be the one to tip them off.

"She wore a mask, and her clothes lit up whenever she attacked." The girl added. "I also overheard her talking to somebody. There wasn't anyone else there, so I think she was talking into a radio or something. I remember she said something about a hideout in the Southeast, just outside the kingdom."

The two students glanced at each other as their plan unfolded. Nobody noticed the slight smirk that appeared on Ozpin's face as the three adults absorbed the information.

Glynda pondered. "Save for the glass, that sounds like the woman I fought the night we met Ruby."

"Embedding Dust into clothing is an age-old technique, it could've been anyone." Ironwood retorted.

"If she is the same person as before, do you think she's connected with Torchwick and the White Fang?" The girl asked.

"It's possible," Ozpin replied. "But we still lack the evidence to link the two together."

Ruby silently nodded.

"Thank you for your cooperation, children." The professor concluded. "Why don't you spend the rest of the day with your teammates. You have a big day ahead of you."

The two nodded, turned around and walked back to the elevator. As the doors slid open, Ozpin urged out a few more words. "And also, I hope the two of you will treat this matter with discretion."

"You can count on us, professor!" Private saluted as the doors closed.

Private let out what remained of his pent-up anxiety in one big exhalation as the elevator descended. "Do you think the plan worked?"

"Don't worry," Ruby replied. "I'm sure they got it."

 _ **Back at Team SKPR's dorm….**_

As Private unlocked the door to his dorm, it quickly swung open and he was dragged inside by Kowalski and Rico. Before he knew it, he was strapped to a chair and blinded by a flashlight shining on his face. The room was fairly dark, as the curtains covered the windows and the lights were off.

"Alright Private," Skipper began. "It's time for an interrogation of my own."

"Is this really necessary?" The captive boy asked. He received a slap from his leader.

"I ask the questions here, soldier." Skipper moved closer, bringing the flashlight inches from his teammate's face. "Now, how much did you spill to the top brass?"

Private spoke up. "I told the professors what happened. Ruby thinks the burglar is associated with Torchwick and the White Fang, so we tipped them off about that."

"And you didn't tell anybody about Hans or Omega Zulu?" Skipper asked.

"My lips were sealed."

The commando glared at his brother, trying to see if that determined look on his face would falter and expose all trace of deceit. However, Private remained steadfast. After a few seconds, Skipper shut off the flashlight. "Alright, he's clear."

Kowalski and Rico drew back the curtains to let the light in once more.

"The White Fang is team RWBY's business," Skipper continued. "As long as our operations remain covert, we've got nothing to worry about."

Private sighed in relief.

"Engage court-martial, boys."

Kowalski and Rico quickly untied their brother and moved a table in front of him. Then, Rico spewed out a small gavel from his mouth and tossed it to Skipper. Kowalski then pushed a table in front of his leader as the latter sat down at the edge of his bed and began to hammer the gavel on the table.

"Now, about that gas bomb…" He began.

Private whimpered into his chair before he puffed up his chest and spoke to his commanding officer. "I'll accept any punishment, Skipper."

"Good. Now standard protocol dictates that your insubordination amounts to two months of suspension from service in this unit." Skipper pointed his gavel at Private. "However, your actions last night were above and beyond the call of duty, so instead, I'm downgrading your sentence. Your candy privileges are revoked for the next two months."

The boy gasped as Rico took his bag of candies from under his bed and stuffed it in a chest. He then regurgitated a long chain and a lock, then tied the chain around the chest and secured the lock on it. Rico then swallowed the key, much to Private's displeasure.

"Case closed." Skipper slammed the gavel as a finishing touch.

Private hung his head in shame as his brothers rearranged the tables back into their original state. Skipper stood up and moved to his brother's side. "Raise that spirit of yours, soldier. I'm giving you a little condition: If we win the Vytal Tournament, you get your sweets back."

Private beamed. "You mean it, Skipper?"

"I'm a man of my word, young Private." The commando tapped his fist against his chest.

The chipper boy leaped out of his chair and hugged his big brother. "I won't fail you!"

"Whoa hey now, the tournament comes later." Skipper pushed Private off his chest. "First, we have a job to do."

 _ **Later that day…**_

The amphitheater buzzed with energy as Ozpin finished his speech and left the stage. Students were moving every which way to sign up for missions. Rising above the sea of teenagers was Kowalski's tall frame, his spyglasses affixed to his eyes as he sat on Rico's shoulders. He looked at each of the screens at the borders of the amphitheater, reading each one as fast as he could.

"Hurry up, Kowalski," Skipper stressed. "As much as I'd like to resort to brute force to secure our spot on that escort mission, I'd rather not have any loose ends in my operation."

Kowalski made a few quick turns towards the right side before he reported. "85 degrees that way, Skipper!"

The scientist got off his brother's shoulders as Skipper spoke again. "Target locked. Gentlemen, we move on my mark. Mark!"

The four boys darted through the crowd towards the terminal, evading people without fail. Seeing that another group was about to use it, they leaped, flipping in the air and landing right in front of the terminal. Skipper quickly tapped on the screen. The one he aimed for was labeled "Escort". Further details included was the mission abstract, which was Cargo Security, the location: Quadrant 1, the city of Vale, and the time when the mission begins, which was ASAP. Skipper was about to register his team when Ironwood walked up to them from behind.

"Interesting choice…" The general began. "I expected you four to choose the most dangerous mission imaginable, even if it wasn't available for first-years. Why isn't that the case here?"

Skipper turned to face his headmaster. "Sir, we may have an appetite for high-octane action and mayhem, but that doesn't mean we don't like to take the simpler missions. I mean, we'll be escorting a bunch of junk! What could go wrong?"

Ironwood crossed his arms in skepticism as he looked at Skipper sternly. Without a single word he reminded the commando of the team's rather checkered track record from their first semester. Skipper slumped, his confidence was cracked.

"Alright, so we haven't been very uh-" Skipper turned to his right-hand man. "Kowalski, give me a good adjective for this."

A quick glance at his clipboard and Kowalski tossed out a suggestion. "Discreet, Skipper?"

"So we haven't been very discreet with our operations before." Skipper continued. "This mission is a chance to prove to you that we have a sense of delicacy."

"Well I'm just letting you know that I'm concerned about the four of you, more than usual." The general replied. "I've already heard some rather curious eyewitness reports of robots and rocket launchers at a highway in Vale. And now that you're taking an urban mission…" He eyed the four of them for any hint of suspicion, however none of them seemed to flinch. "At least by taking a mission outside the kingdom, there's a far smaller chance of endangering civilians."

"And that's exactly why we're taking that risk, sir. We'll show you that we can handle a simple cargo escort without starting the apocalypse." Skipper extended his hands out to his teammates for a few low-fives, to which they swiftly reciprocated.

"Alright then." Ironwood leaned forward and spoke in a softer voice, yet he retained an ominous tone. "I hope you boys remembered what we had discussed before I let you come to the Vytal Festival. If I hear a single whiff of catastrophe from you four, you will find yourselves on a plane heading straight back to Atlas before you could even qualify for the tournament. Are we clear?"

Skipper also leaned closer in response, his confidence returning to his voice. "Crystal clear, sir."

Ironwood nodded. "Good luck boys." He turned and left them as Skipper typed their team name on the registry.

"He's still onto us, men." Skipper muttered. "Keep your hijinks to a minimum."

The four walked outside and headed to the front avenue. As they approached, they noticed that all their acquaintances were there to bid team RWBY farewell on their mission.

"Hey hey, it's the super-spies!" Neptune shouted. "You guys are doing an undercover mission too? Or are you going on a search-and-destroy with extreme prejudice?"

"Negative, compadre." Skipper replied. "We've chosen a simple urban escort. I'd love to share with you the details, but I'm afraid that's classified information."

"Of course it is…" Blake rolled her eyes.

"That sounds a little too tame for your tastes." Yang pointed out.

Skipper reeled back in shock and shifted into a battle stance. "She's onto us, men!"

Yang raised her hands in defense. "Woah hey calm down! If you don't wanna talk about it, fine. You don't have to go all defensive."

In the distance they overheard Professor Oobleck shouting at team RWBY to hurry up. Meanwhile, Kowalski pulled out his pocket watch and showed it to his leader.

"Shiitake mushrooms, is that the time?" Skipper turned to his team. "Hop to it, men. We've got a mission to accomplish!"

The teams waved each other goodbye silently as the engines of team RWBY's Bullhead roared to life. In a few seconds, the aircraft took the skies.

Team SKPR's own Bullhead was several landing pads to the right, docked and ready. Waiting at the steps of the pad was a big, burly man in a gray jacket and pants. Once he saw the four he hugged them straight away with his huge arms, lifting them into the air as he spoke.

"Hello boys! Name's Burt! I'm excited to lead your first ever mission!" The man's voice was large, yet eager, further solidifying his gentle giant nature.

Private strained to speak through the Huntsman's crushing grip. "Nice to meet you too, Burt!"

The man dropped them and rushed straight into the Bullhead. "Well, what are we waiting for? Our mission awaits!"

As the four boarded, Skipper whispered to his teammates. "I think this operation just got a whole lot easier…"

* * *

 **A/N: I'm aware of the Volume 3 announcement, but I'll give you the straight dope right now, I won't write the sequel until Volume 3 has finished. On another note, I read a suggestion to do Officer X in this crossover-verse, and as much as I find that idea captivating, I don't think I can do his personal vernacular justice (meaning I suck at punny one-liners). Besides, there's no good replacement for the way he says "Penguins". However the interim did give me time to think about this whole crossover, and I may have a few more SKPR stories in mind that I could write as a bunch of oneshots (canonicity with regards to this story is mutable at this point). I will write those oneshots if you want me to, but if I do, I'll do it after I finish this fic. See ya next time! ^_^  
**


	10. Crescendo

**A/N: Alas, my good readers, this is the final chapter. I didn't think it'd be right to cut it in half, so I just went all in. I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

 _ **Industrial District  
City of Vale  
1800 Hours**_

The Bullhead passed over the city at a steady pace as it headed for the industrial district of Vale. The day was nearing its end, the sun was shrouded by clouds as it approached the horizon beyond the coast. Through the howling wind, Private conversed with Burt.

"So Burt, why did you choose to lead this mission?"

"Well I have a fascination with the visual arts. A big portion of the cargo is paintings from one of my favorite artists: Audrey Chroma." Burt's voice lit up in delight.

"Ah! Another admirer of Chroma's work!" Kowalski interjected.

"You like her too? Awesome!" Burt and Kowalski fist-bumped. "You'll find it interesting to know that what we'll be delivering is her entire " _Grimm Twilight_ " gallery."

"The original watercolour editions? How positively splendid!" The tall boy motioned to Rico. "You know Rico has some skill with a paintbrush himself."

Skipper pulled in Kowalski close for a slap. "This ain't tea and biscuits, Kowalski, remember why we're really here."

The Bullhead descended as it approached the docks. It slowed to a hover, then finally landed. The five got off and followed Burt's lead. Up ahead, past the rows of boxcars, was their cargo, sealed in thick wooden crates. The five arrived just in time to see the freighter deposit the last of the boxes. Burt greeted the dock security.

"Howdy, fellas!"

The head guard turned to them. "You must be the Huntsman filling in for our extra security. Thanks a lot for coming, some of us didn't think that we could get an actual Huntsman to help with this."

The large man scoffed. "Nah, it's no biggie. I'm actually glad that I could take this!"

The guard looked past Burt's shoulder. "The kids are with you?"

Burt nodded as the four boys saluted. He stretched out his arm and wrapped it around all four of them. "Their first mission." The man in gray answered.

The guard nodded. "Alright then. We'll load them on the truck and from there the crates are in your hands." He turned around, signalling the dock workers to load the cargo.

To their right was the loading truck. As the crates were being moved, Private tapped the burly Huntsman's shoulder.

"Burt, I know there are people that will steal art, but shouldn't painting thieves be easy enough for the regular law enforcement to handle?"

Burt turned around and huddled with his students. "It's not just paintings that are in those crates, kid. There's also some really valuable artifacts, stuff that people would kill for."

"Oh okay then."

 _ **Vale National Archives  
City of Vale**_  
 _ **1930 Hours**_

After an uneventful drive through the traffic-laden streets of Vale, the five arrived at the Archives at dusk. With the help of the archivists they moved the crates from the loading bay into the underground levels where they would be stored. As they opened the crates of the Chroma paintings Burt and Kowalski became positively ecstatic at the sight of them.

The scientist inhaled deeply. "Ahh, smell that watercolour. It's exquisite!"

Carefully they placed all the paintings inside the closets of the Art Storage level without incident. The next set of boxes they opened did not hold paintings, but antiques of all kinds. These would be stored in the labyrinthine rooms where drawers covered every space of the walls. Among the antiques were ancient pottery, textiles, and a particularly curious gold statue of a squirrel. And then there were the weapons. The four boys drooled at the sight of the unpacked artifacts. Jade swords, shiny black bludgeons of all sizes and antiquated guns. Eventually, all the artifacts were archived, and they were left with the final box.

Inside were five steel cabinets, numbered 11 to 15. Skipper was particularly wide-eyed at Cabinet 15. He knew that the object of his desires was tucked inside, waiting for him to claim it. As he and one of the archivists lifted it out of the crate, he noticed the lock on it. Silently he nodded to his brothers to remind them of the operation.

They moved the five cabinets to a storage vault at a lower level with unspoken perseverance, making observations every step of the way. From the layout of the corridors to the the key code of the vault, team SKPR prepared for their true mission.

After the vault doors were sealed and locked, Burt spoke. "Okay, that's all the cargo. Now we need to stay and guard them till morning. But first, I gotta use the little Huntsman's room. Meet me at the security office."

As Burt ran off to the nearest restroom, the four immediately moved to the elevator and they discussed as it moved back up to the ground floor.

"This operation is gonna be a piece of cake, boys." Skipper began. "Rico, you've got the knockout gas ready?"

Rico regurgitated a small green bomb and nodded before he swallowed it again.

"Excellente. First, we wait for the rest of the staff to leave, which should be at 2100 hours. This is supposed to be a clandestine operation and I want absolutely no witnesses. Once they're gone and Big Gray is out cold, we open the vault and nab my security file. "

Private raised his hand. "Skipper, aren't you worried that actual burglars would appear?"

"Always with the naive questions, Private. Of course not! We can handle those sissies!"

The hours seemed to drift slowly in the empty archives. After thirty minutes of watching and waiting inside the security room, the five got bored, and that's when Burt decided to take them on a security patrol around the building. They met the remaining archivists and historians who were working in the late evening. Still, the brothers hungered for some excitement.

After spending another half hour at the security office, the hefty Huntsman took them along for another patrol to check on the security gadgets. It was during this time that he noticed the weariness of boredom that had accumulated within his four students.

"Cheer up, guys!" He began. "I know you want to taste some action, and I know that there's a low chance of actually getting some tonight. How about I order us some pizza?"

"Mmm pizza." Rico growled.

Burt and team SKPR talked around a table inside the security office with three large pizza boxes, the third being exclusively for Rico, lest he devour their slices as well. Burt bit into a slice as he began asking his students questions.

"You guys look like a closely-knit team." He began. "What made you want to become Huntsmen?"

Skipper answered with pride. "Burt, we've known each other since the beginning. And working as a team was all we've known from the beginning. All we had was our uncle and each other, and even as kids, we knew that we could do anything when we pooled our skills together." He high-fived with his brothers.

"Our uncle Nigel was really supportive of us!" Private added with glee.

"He taught us everything we know, at least until we enrolled in the Atlesian Academy." Kowalski mused.

"What about you Big Gray?" Skipper asked. "I reckon if you wanted to be a snooty, pretentious finger painter, you would've done it."

"I may have dabbled in the visual arts in the past, but I became a Huntsman because I understood that they were the inspirational spark behind my favorite artists' work. Take the _Grimm Twilight_ paintings for example. All of them were made in homage to great Huntsmen and Huntresses. It came to me then that the people in those paintings were more influential than the brushstrokes and color shadings. I wanted to be like them, to be able to inspire others to do great things too. And here I am now, guiding a fresh team on their very first mission. Besides, when it comes to art, everybody is a critic."

"I think that's very noble of you, Burt." Private responded.

"Aw shucks."

After they ate, Burt went on one last patrol to check if anybody was left in the Archives. Apparently, the only other person in the building was a burly, muscular man named Gus who still working on the water mains.

Midnight had crept in without announcement. While Burt was out on another solo patrol, the four remained in the security office. Skipper and Kowalski were eyeing the monitors, Private began drawing using the office supplies, and Rico was playing five-finger fillet with a switchblade. Skipper stirred his styrofoam coffee in impatience at Gus, who was on one of the monitors.

"Come on, get out of here already. How hard can it be to fix a couple of leaky pipes?"

"Can't we just use another gas bomb on him?" Kowalski whispered.

"We could, if _somebody_ didn't use it on us to sneak away to a stupid dance." The commando glared at Private as he remarked.

Gus eventually finished by 1:30. As Skipper watched him leave through one of the back doors, he signaled to his teammates to initiate their plan. They moved out of Burt's line of sight and put on their gas masks as Rico released the gas bomb. Their teacher instantly dropped on the table. Private moved him off to the side, apologizing as he dragged him into the closet. Meanwhile, Kowalski opened the door to vent the gas out. Skipper took off his gas mask as he spoke.

"Kowalski, you're holding the fort here. Ring us for any developments. Private, Rico, let's move."

The four hooked up communicators to their ears and moved out. While the trio headed for the elevator back to the storage vault sublevel, Kowalski flipped through the security camera footage. Then, one of them went static. And another. And another.

"Skipper, I'm experiencing some technical difficulties. Several cameras have gone offline."

Kowalski attempted to conduct a diagnostic, but as he typed the remaining cameras also went dark.

"Skipper I lost visual on all fronts, I-"

The scientist's voice was cut off by a scream before going silent.

The commando tapped into his earpiece. "Kowalski, report?" No reply. "Man down!" He yelled.

The elevator doors slid open, and the three were surprised to face several armed grunts dressed in black suits with red ties and shades.

Private yelped while Rico readied his weapon.

"Well look at that, a chance for action." Skipper remarked. "Engage!"

The intruders charged out of the elevator, only to be tossed every which way by Rico's crazed dual sword techniques. Private tussled with three at once while Skipper used his hand-to-hand combat maneuvers to fight his way into the elevator. He gave out an order as the doors closed.

"Keep 'em busy, men! I'm going after my file!"

After Private and Rico dealt with the attackers, they ran back to the security office to check on their brother. They found Kowalski under the table, unharmed yet knocked out. Rico dragged him out and tried shaking and slapping him awake, but to no avail. Before he could attempt a more violent method, Private whispered into his ear.

"Kowalski, Doris wants to go on a date with you!"

"Really?!" The scientist shot up as if he was never unconscious. Noticing the ruse, he frowned. "Oh come on!"

Private spoke again. "Kowalski, the Archives are being raided, and Skipper went to get his file."

"We've got to go help him!" Kowalski readied his battle gloves and charged out of the office, his brothers tailing close behind.

Down at the sublevel, Skipper used his invisibility Semblance to clear his path to the storage vault. Armed grunts dropped left and right as they never saw him coming. Eventually, he arrived at the huge tumbler door and dialed in the code. However as it unlocked he heard a noise from behind. He tried to dodge, but he found himself frozen in ice up to his waist. Out of the shadows behind him strolled out a devious figure who was holding a high-tech weapon in his hands.

Skipper gritted through his teeth. "Hans! I should've known you were behind this raid."

The pirate cackled as he walked. "Good evening Skipper! Well, technically it's 2 in the morning but whatever. I had a feeling you might come after your precious security file."

"You fiend! How'd you know of its location?" Skipper struggled to free himself from the ice.

"I have my sources." Hans walked smugly into the open vault and pulled out the file from the cabinet. He waved it just outside of Skipper's reach in pure mockery and laughed. "I'd like to stay and destroy you but that defeats the purpose of stealing this file in the first place."

The fuming commando pointed his assault rifle at his enemy, aiming for the folder in the latter's hands. However Hans noticed Skipper's intent and fired another freezing bolt, encasing Skipper's arms in ice. The boy struggled even more as his enemy gloated his weapon at his face.

"Behold, the Hansmatic 9000, made from the latest in Schnee Dust-processing technology! And also also it makes a nice cappuccino." The pirate pointed to small cup on the back handgrip. "See, this where you get it." He pressed a button and a stream of fresh coffee filled the small cup, and he took a sip. "At last, my ultimate victory against you is complete!"

"Not while we're around, Hans." Another voice proclaimed.

The two turned to the source of the noise. It was Private, Kowalski and Rico, all aiming their weapons at the pirate. Enraged, Hans switched the Dust cartridge on his weapon and fired an explosive blast, causing the trio break formation and giving him the opportunity to slip through for an escape. As the smoke cleared, Rico fired a rocket at the elevator as the doors closed in front of the criminal, blasting them open and breaking the elevator's mechanisms. Hans fired a few more shots from his weapon as he climbed through the maintenance hatch up to the next level. While Rico gave chase, Kowalski and Private freed their brother from his icy shackles.

"Thanks for the rescue, boys. Now let's move. Hans is not leaving this building with my security file."

As the three climbed up to the storage level above them, they heard Rico babble into his earpiece, amidst sounds of firing and explosions.

"Speak English, soldier!" Skipper replied.

The punk's raspy voice came through the speakers again, this time more coherent. "Art Room!"

Kowalski gasped. "Not the Chroma paintings!"

Rico and Hans were caught in a stalemate inside the Art Storage room. While Rico was taking cover behind the storage closets, Hans had built toppled over several of them and used them and the paintings as a barricade. Smoke and snow covered the room as Skipper, Kowalski and Private entered.

The scientist cried in despair as he saw one of the stray bolts from Hans' weapon strike one of the Chroma paintings, covering it in ice. His grief was quickly replaced with fright as Skipper pulled him back into their cover position to avoid taking a face full of frost.

Skipper shouted across the hall to his enemy. "Give it up, Hans! You're outnumbered!"

"That may be so, but with the Hansmatic 9000, you're all outmatched!" The pirate turned the cartridge chamber on his weapon and fired a barrage of ricocheting thunderbolts that sent the four reeling. He cackled as he continued his assault.

"I blast you! I blast you again! Hahahaha!"

Through the crackle of thunderbolts, the commando called to his brother. "Kowalski, options!"

Kowalski pulled out his clipboard. "I recommend a two-way flanking maneuver to divide Hans' focus and leave him open to-"

"Reckless action it is!"

Skipper charged into the fray screaming and firing his assault rifle at point-blank range. Amazingly, he dodged the bolts of lightning without so much as a single burn. He leaped on Hans' makeshift barricade and fired his grenade launcher as Hans shot out a thunderbolt, sending the two of them flying. The blast also triggered a chain reaction, causing the rest of the storage closets to topple over. When the smoke and dust cleared, the combatants all found themselves trapped and buried under debris while the security file slowly drifted to the floor. The commando shouted to his teammates as he attempted to lift a closet off his back.

"Retrieve the file!"

Hans managed to scramble himself free first. He switched the Hansmatic 9000 to its wind Dust cartridge, creating a suction force to draw the file to his hands. As it fluttered across the air, Private popped out of the rubble with his rifle and fired a shot.

The folder exploded into burning embers onto the pirate's outstretched hand.

"Atta boy, Private!" Skipper shouted from his pinned spot.

Hans screamed in utter defeat. His anger turned to fury as he switched the cartridge back into fire dust and pointed the barrel end towards Skipper.

"Well at least I get the pleasure of eliminating my archenemy!" Hans taunted.

Before he could fire the killing shot, Hans was blasted through the wall and into a hallway by an explosive bolt from Kowalski. As Rico and Private pulled their leader out of his spot, Kowalski kept the scoundrel at bay.

"Your spree of vengeance ends here, you sociopathic destroyer of beauty!"

Skipper and the others regrouped with their brother. He lowered Kowalski's arms as Private and Rico kept their aim at Hans.

"At ease, soldier." Skipper ordered.

"What's going on here?" A new voice hollered.

Burt walked in from the corridor that Kowalski busted into. As he stepped into the scene, his foot landed on a piece of debris. He looked down at it and saw that it was what was left of a Chroma painting. The sight of it caused his heart to sink into a bottomless pit, from which a wrathful flame roared to life.

"You.." The gray Huntsman growled, cracking his knuckles. He stomped towards the incapacitated criminal, each step building up his rage. The boys stepped back to give him space. "You destroyed the _Starlight Victory_ …"

As the criminal stuttered to parley with the furious Burt, Skipper uttered to his brother. "Kowalski, cover the Private's eyes. This might get excessively violent."

Skipper, Kowalski and Rico watched as Burt lifted Hans into the air with one hand. Before he could throw the first punch, the entire building shook around them.

"What in the name of Mantle was that?" Skipper asked.

Another tremor hit, causing the lights to flicker.

"You boys go check it out." Burt beckoned. "I'll deal with our little vandal."

The four could hear Hans' cries of pain echo along the corridor as they walked away from the scene. When they exited the building, they saw that it was already dawn and a wailing siren permeated the air. They looked to the skies as huge black shapes soared above: the unmistakable silhouette of Nevermores.

"Well boys, looks like we have a Grimm invasion." Skipper remarked. "And before breakfast too."

A pillar of smoke erupted from the plaza as Bullheads and Atlesian airships began flying into the city. The leader turned to his teammates.

"Men, I won't stand by as the Grimm launch a full-scale assault and we're not in the middle of the action. Kowalski, get me a way to the plaza, ASAP!"

As they glanced around, Rico turned their attention to a parked jeep across the street. After a brief pause, Skipper answered.

"Eh, we'll bring it back."

The four hopped into the vehicle swiftly. Within a few seconds, the punk hotwired the engines to life.

"Ignition! Gas! Music!" Skipper ordered. When Kowalski pushed the tape into the player, a rock song played through the speakers as Rico drove the jeep through the streets at high speed.

Private tapped his head to the beat. "Ooh, I like this song!"

"It never gets old." Kowalski added.

"It does have a catchy ring to it." Skipper remarked.

After a few minutes, the jeep approached their destination. Rico hit the brakes as they turned the corner. Down the street was the plaza, infested with Grimm. Private ramped up the volume on the speakers as Skipper and Kowalski stood up, their weapons at the ready.

"Alright, Operation: Cavalry is go!"

The punk floored the accelerator and they rammed straight into the frenzy with guns blazing. There was no time for mid-battle greetings with their friends, only carnage. After mowing down hordes of Beowolves and Creepers, a King Taijitu lashed at the car. The quartet leaped out just before impact, and Rico embedded his chainsaw into the serpent Grimm's skull. Activating the rocket function, he slid down the monster's spine with the blade still embedded, bifurcating the monster snake.

"So much for returning the jeep..." Kowalski muttered.

He and Skipper caught the attention of a Death Stalker. Kowalski expertly pinned the scorpion's limbs with ice, allowing Skipper the opportunity to slice off the creature's stinger with his blade before shoving a grenade into its mouth. When the beast exploded, two man-sized Nevermores swooped down on them from above, only to take several explosive blasts and crash into a building, courtesy of Private's golf-swung Dust crystals.

After covering his brothers, Private found himself surrounded by Boarbatusks. Using well-timed strikes, he managed to incapacitate them and form a growing pile of paralyzed creatubeneath his feet. Propelling himself into the air with a recoil shot, he finished them off with a falling stab from his polearm.

The four regrouped again to watch the other students and teachers finish off the rest of the Grimm. The sight of a fashionable girl unfurl a minigun in the middle of the courtyard and demolish dozens of Grimm singlehanded had them swooning. After the majority of the Grimm were eliminated, Professors Port and Oobleck gathered around a large rubble-filled hole in the street and cleared a horde of the creatures coming at their position. Then, Goodwitch marched into the chaos and used her Semblance to repair the hole. The battle was over as quickly they had entered it.

The boys walked down to the courtyard where their friends were. There, an Atlesian airship had landed and they looked on as two students apprehend a familiar face to the androids.

"Watch the hat!" The criminal sneered.

They peered inside the transport and saw Burt watching over the cuffed and beat up Hans and the henchmen as Torchwick was moved with them. The teacher in gray clambered down the ramp to meet with his students as Skipper taunted at his defeated nemesis.

"You boys did a good job today." The Huntsman commented.

"We're sorry about the paintings." Private replied. "We know how much they meant to you."

"Aw it's okay. At the end of the day, it was just a painting. What matters is that nobody got hurt, the other items weren't stolen, and we stopped the bad guys." The man hugged the four all at once. "I'm gonna miss you boys!"

Kowalski groaned from his squeezed lungs. "We'll miss you too, Burt."

The Huntsman got back in the airship and it lifted into the sky, leaving the four at the plaza. Team SKPR boarded a Bullhead with their friends and flew back to Beacon. As it took off, Ruby opened the conversation.

"So, how was your mission?"

"We put a wanted pirate behind bars, expunged me from Vacuo's "Most Wanted" list and slaughtered hordes of Grimm. If that ain't a three-for-one success then I don't know what is!" Team SKPR celebrated with a round of high-fives.

"What about you guys?" Private asked.

Team RWBY looked dejected.

"It didn't work out the way we wanted." Ruby answered.

"But at least we caught a lot of dangerous people, that's something to be proud of." Blake added.

"Ugh I just want to sleep already!" Yang groaned.

Kowalski yawned. "I concur with that assessment."

The commando sighed. "Oh alright you knuckleheads. Break approved."

Rico instantly turned off, his body collapsing on the floor. Kowalski and Private immediately picked him up and moved him to the seat.

When the Bullhead returned to Beacon, it took all three brothers to carry their brother back to their dorm room. Once they tossed Rico back into his bed, Kowalski and Private collapsed on their beds as well. When the three were fast asleep, Skipper took out his scroll and stared out the window. The campus slowly came to life with the morning. He brought the scroll close to his mouth and clicked the "Record" button.

"Skipper's log. My team and I have accomplished our mission in Vale. Hans is now behind bars, and my name is stricken from the Vacuan criminal records. As much as I desire to celebrate this victory, my deep-seated paranoia tells me that the real struggle is far from over. My head is still filled with questions, such as the identity of the burglar Private and Ruby encountered during the night of the Beacon dance. I fear that a conspiracy may be afoot in Vale. However, I have no leads and therefore I must bolster my vigilance. But for now, my team rests. My gut tells me that this unit will need all the strength it can muster, because if you ask me, this is just the beginning. End log."

* * *

 **A/N: Now I can talk about stuff. First things first, the questions of seeing other Penguins characters. Not every character is going to fit neatly in a crossover, it's why you don't see the lemurs in this fic and never will. Hans is more workable than Blowhole, but that doesn't make the latter completely unfit, just harder to work with. Another reason why I wanted Hans was because the "Skipper Makes Perfect" episode was lacking him, which was odd for me. I chose Burt to be their professional Huntsman for also being workable, and also I don't have to make up an original character for this fic. Technically, Marlene can fit in RWBY, but I don't think she'd be a Huntress. If you ask me what characters could also be Huntsmen (in training or otherwise), my money goes to Kitka, the Amarillo Kid, Doris and Joey.  
**

 **Edit: By this point the Penguins' semblances have already been determined. Sorry if I haven't been clear on that.**

 **After this I guess I'll just watch Volume 3 and maybe make the sequel fic after it finishes. In the meantime, what do I leave you with? Some SKPR oneshots and drabbles? Sketches of RWBYfied Penguins characters? I don't know.  
**

 **Anyways, thus ends SKPR's Log, my first ever fanfiction. It was a good run, I'm glad readers have enjoyed it. To be honest, I wrote this because nobody had thought of it and I said to myself "If someone else did it, it probably wouldn't come out as I would've thought it would be." So thank you all! ^_^**


End file.
